The mother and daughter would get up at 4 am daily.
Eighteen-year-old Anjali Chaudhary won gold at the girl’s under-21 25-metre pistol event at the Khelo India Youth Games in Guwahati, Assam.
Her win on January 15, 2020, meant that Haryana remained in second place with 111 medals, including 36 gold.
Maharashtra remained in first place with a total of 149 medals which includes 41 gold.
A day later, Anjali celebrated her 18th birthday with her parents Mahavir Singh and Suman along with the people of the village.
Anjali may have achieved success during the event but a lot of credit goes to her parents as they made sacrifices for five years in order for that to happen.
Anjali’s parents struggled alongside their daughter in what is an inspirational story for all parents with aspiring daughters.
Anjali is the eldest of three children. Her sister Preeti is in class 10 while her brother Shivam is in class 5.
In 2015, Anjali was the top student in the school’s throwing event. She then decided to learn shooting, costing Rs. 1,500 (£16) per month.
She won events at district level before achieving success at state level. At the time Anjali used her coach’s pistol for shooting competitions.
Anjali’s mother explained that the coach then told her daughter to start running daily. Suman revealed that she wanted to run with her but could not due to an accident that she suffered.
The mother and daughter would get up at 4 am daily.
Anjali went running while Suman would follow behind on her bike. Suman said that while they would be out together, Anjali would be alone as she was a lot further ahead.
However, during her training, many people disrupted her and some even taunted her.
When Suman saw what was happening, she braved her injury and decided to run alongside her daughter at 4 am.
In December 2016, Suman took a job at Anjali’s school, working as a hostel warden. She used the money to buy a pistol for shooting events in February 2017.
Her father Mahavir also revealed the efforts that he made to fulfil his daughter’s success in the future.
He explained that they were spending Rs. 15,000 (£160) each month for their daughter’s training.
To ensure that they were financially able to, Mahavir sold his 150 square yard plot of land for Rs. 2.5 Lakh (£2,700).
In 2017, Anjali Chaudhary started competing in 25-metre events. Mahavir used some of the money made from the sold land to move with his daughter to Delhi where she trained at Karni Shooting Range in Tughlaqabad.
They stayed in a room in a monastery while they made dining arrangements by going to Manav Rachna University which was almost one mile away.
Mahavir paid Rs. 120 (£1.30) each day for him and his daughter to eat.
He went on to say that his and his wife’s sacrifices began to pay off in August 2018 when Anjali won a silver medal in the 10-metre event.
Anjali’s parents did whatever they could to ensure that their daughter received the proper training in order for success. Their dedication paid off when Anjali Chaudhary took home the gold medal a day before she turned 18.
On the day of Anjali’s triumph, there were 17 gold medals at stake. Haryana and Maharashtra won two golds each.
The other gold medallist from Haryana was cyclist Arab Singh who won the boy’s under-17 Individual Pursuit.
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