There was only one person Asmita Dey wanted to call after the biggest victory of her life. But seven months ago, that possibility was taken away forever.On Friday, the 23-year-old scripted history by becoming the first Indian judoka to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal, defeating Canada's Heidi Quach in the women's 48kg final after a gripping golden score contest.As the celebrations unfolded around her, Dey's thoughts drifted to her father, a bicycle mechanic from a small village in Tripura, who had spent years keeping his daughter's impossible dream alive."When my father passed away, I thought everything had finished because he was the one who supported me," Asmita said, pausing repeatedly to compose herself after the bout.The gold medal hanging around her neck was the one he never got to see. A dream bigger than the villageAsmita comes from Belonia, a small town in Tripura where sporting dreams rarely stretch to the Commonwealth Games podium.Her father earned around Rs 300 a day repairing bicycles. The family lived in a modest mud house, and every rupee mattered.Yet, he never questioned his daughter's decision to pursue sport."I am from a very small village in Tripura. People there don't dream this big. But Papa always supported me," she said.When a serious knee injury threatened to end her career, he did what many parents with far greater means struggle to do.He brought her to Delhi for treatment, bought her medicines and made sure she could return to the mat.Money was scarce, but belief never was.When everything seemed overIn December last year, tragedy struck. Her father passed away after suffering a brain stroke.For Asmita, it wasn't just the loss of a parent. It felt like losing the one person who had believed in her before anyone else did."I thought everything had finished," she admitted.Training no longer…
This report has been adapted by the PurePlay Sports Desk from coverage by The Hindu Sportstar, The Bridge.