Guess what 14-year-old wrestler Chanchala Kumari of Ranchi, who is the first wrestler from Jharkhand to qualify for the world championship, asked for when she met chief minister Hemant Soren on Friday?

No, not funds, wrestling kits or a job. She requested him to ensure that good coaches were assigned to the state sports academy for better training of sportspersons like her. Impressed by her dedication to sports, Hemant assured her all help.

On June 21, Chanchala, who hails from a humble family in Ranchi’s Hotwar village, scripted history by clinching a berth in the national squad for the upcoming world wrestling championships. She will be the lone athlete to represent India in the under-40 kg (sub junior) category at the tournament which is scheduled to be held in Budapest, Hungary, between July 19 and July 25.

Her success also paved way for her mentor Babloo Kumar’s escalation as Team India coach (female). It was to congratulate them both that Hemant met them at his Project Building office in the evening.

Hemant is learnt to have asked Chanchala about her family, financial condition and other details. He also asked her about her expectations from the government, especially with regard to her sporting discipline. But Chanchala only asked for good coaches.

Speaking over phone, Babloo, said, “CM sir repeatedly asked her if she wanted anything. All that she kept saying was the need for good coaches at her academy. She stressed that earlier, coaches at her academy groomed many like her from scratch. She wished to avail their services again. CM immediately asked sports secretary Pooja Singhal to look into the issue.”

Chanchala’s father, Narendra Pahan, is a small time farmer while her mother is a housewife. She has three other siblings — an elder brother and two sisters, one younger to her.

She is a cadet of Jharkhand State Sports Promotion Society (JSSPS), a joint venture between the state sports department and Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), that runs special academies at the mega sports complex in Khelgaon. Chanchala got enrolled in 2016 and in four years time, she became the first wrestler from Jharkhand to make it to the world championship.

Sources said that the wrestling academy at JSSPS has been without coaches for the last one year after their contracts expired. Among them are Bholanath Singh, who is also president of the Jharkhand State Wrestling Association, and Babloo.