CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, August 4: Ranchi’s daughters Lovely Chaubey and Rupa Rani Tirkey created history by winning Gold for Lawn Bowls in the Commonwealth Games 2022 which is being held in Birmingham. However, it was not a cakewalk for them to participate in the multi-national tourney.
Arvind Kumar, husband of Lovely Chaubey spoke to Lagatar24.com and shared the struggles she faced from not getting permission from Jharkhand Police to winning gold in CWG 2022.
“We faced a lot of struggles to get permission from Jharkhand police to allow her to participate in the tournament. Eventually, she was granted ‘no work no pay’ to participate in the CWG. She was upset but at the same time very determined,” her husband said.
He added that she was quite confident about the tournament and a day before the event she told her husband “Gold confirm hai mera (My gold is confirmed).” He said that he was really happy to see her confidence and at the same time was nervous.
Shail Devi, Lovely’s mother, said that it has been the proudest moment of her life and she has not only made them but the whole Jharkhand proud with her achievement. Her father Madan Chaubey said that she used to be on the field every morning till 10 am to practice.
“It is her hard work that has brought glory to all of us. She was determined from the beginning and used to start practising early in the morning till 10 am. Used to eat whatever was there in the house and never complained about anything,” he added.
Arvind added that in 2021, Lovely was posted for training in Sahebganj by Jharkhand Police. However, as there was a rise in covid cases in the camp, they were sent back home and she joined working in Ranchi. She got a job in Jharkhand Police through sports quota.
Earlier, a Long jumper and an athlete suffering from injuries, Lovely decided to switch to Lawn Bowls in 2008 and has been consistently performing since then. During the 2018 CWG at Gold Coast, she ended up seventh in pairs and fifth in fours.
Currently, there has been no announcement by Jharkhand Police if there will be any promotion and her husband said that they are not thinking of any such thing.
“We all are really happy with her performance and getting a promotion and all are secondary. She has made the country and Jharkhand proud. That is more important,” he said.
