From an Olympian to a Sub-Inspector in Punjab Police, Sunith Singh (50), a single mother has faced several ups and downs in her life. However, one thing that remained constant was providing better education and upbringing to her daughter.
Born on September 10, 1970, Sunith is former Indian female Judoka. She represented India at the 1996 Summer Olympics. She also won bronze medals in the 1995 Asian Judo Championships and Commonwealth Games in 1996.
But life took a different turn after she got married in 1997 to her fellow Indian judoka, Narender Singh, an Arjun awardee, who had also represented India in both 1992 Summer Olympics and in the 1996 Olympics.
While she was working in a private company as a sports officer in Jamshedpur when her daughter was born, she had to give up her job and leave sports so that she could be with her husband here.
"My husband was posted here in PAP. For a sound upbringing and better schooling of my daughter, I left sports. Having played over 20 international tournaments and several national championships, sports was a big miss but raising my daughter appeared as a bigger responsibility. And I decided to make my daughter an ace judo player. As life is full of surprising events, In 2002, when my daughter started going to school, an opportunity to become HOD sports of a private school knocked on my door. Analysing all the pros and cons, I took up the job and remained associated with sports. I enjoyed training young minds including my daughter", said Sunith.
However, life isn't a bed full of roses that sails smoothly. The worst time occurred when she lost her husband, due to an illness in 2016. While Sunith was recovering from the trauma, she was offered to join Punjab police, as her husband was serving as Superintendent of Police. Considering her young daughter's future ahead, she joined the police as a judo coach for budding sports players.
Before formally
serving as a coach, at the age of 46, she had to undergo a mandatory training
for three years, that remained physically challenging. But motivation to set an
example for all the mothers kept her going. "Instead of putting
restrictions on our daughters, we should set them free. Give them the space to
spread their wings and let them stand tall on their feet", she advices
for better upbringing of daughters.
While her daughter Sharon is currently pursuing her higher studies Abroad, Sunith resides here in PAP.