Ritu a young boxer from Chandigarh embodies the difficulties a sportsperson has to face in India.
The national school-level boxing bronze medallist has been compelled due to financial hardships to work as a parking attendant, who earns daily wages by issuing parking slips at a parking area in the city's Shastri Park area.
Ritu (23), was once a promising boxing player and had won a bronze medal in National School Boxing Championship.
"I developed an interest in boxing when I was in class 10. Later I started participating in tournaments at the state and national level. I also participated in volleyball and wrestling at the national level," Ritu told ANI.
On being asked why she did not pursue a career in sports, she spoke about a lack of support. "My father fell ill and could not work anymore. I had to work on daily wages to support the family. I asked for help from my sports teacher but he said that it was difficult to get support to play at a senior level," Ritu said.
"I had to leave my studies also. Neither did I get a scholarship nor a job from the sports quota. I had no choice but to quit boxing," she added.
The boxer said she would like to continue boxing if she gets help from the authorities and expressed her desire to play for the country and win a medal in the sport in the Olympics.
Meanwhile, at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics 2020, 23-year-old Lovlina Borgohain from Assam won bronze, becoming the third Indian boxer from India to win in the sport at the Olympics after Vijender Singh (2008) and M C Mary Kom (2012).
( With inputs from ANI )
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