Highly talented long jumper Shaili Singh showcased another facet of her personality as she performed the Bhangra dance on a popular Punjabi song at the SAI Centre in Bangalore. To celebrate her return to the country, World Athletics U20 silver medalist Shaili was joined by fellow athletes who also performed the dance at SAI center on Friday. The 17-year-old missed out on scripting history by a mere 1cm as she settled for a silver in the U-20 World Athletics Championships last week.
Shaili’s personal best effort of 6.59m was not enough for a gold as she was pipped to the post by Sweden’s reigning European junior champion Maja Askag, who managed 6.60m for the top spot on the final day of the championships.
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#WorldAthleticsU20 Silver Medalist #ShailiSingh celebrates her glorious return by dancing on the tune of a Punjabi song at SAI, Bangalore
Take a look 😀@ianuragthakur @NisithPramanik @YASMinistry @IndiaSports @DGSAI @afiindia @Adille1 @NsscSai @ddsportschannel @AkashvaniAIR pic.twitter.com/hWzuezycEL
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) August 27, 2021
A protege of legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George, Shaili was leading at the end of the third round but the 18-year-old Swede overtook her in the fourth round by a mere 1cm which proved to be decisive in the end. Mariia Horielova of Ukraine took the bronze with a best jump of 6.50m.
India ended their campaign with a best-ever medal haul of 2 silver and 1 bronze, though the country had won one gold each in the earlier two editions — by Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra (2016) and quarter-miler Hima Das (2018).
The Jhansi-born athlete, who was raised by a single mother who worked as a tailor, currently trains at the academy of Anju Bobby George in Bengaluru. She is coached by Anju’s husband Bobby George.
She had won the women’s long jump event at the National (Senior) Inter-State Championships in June with an effort of 6.48m, her previous personal best. She is the current U-18 world No. 2 and U-20 national record holder.
(With PTI Inputs)
