A family that took an oath of secrecy, a national federation that maintained silence despite claiming to know everything and even their close friends had no clue. At a time when it is very difficult for popular celebrities to maintain their privacy, star player Neeraj Chopra surprised everyone by getting married secretly.
Chopra, a genuine legend of Indian sports and an affable youngster who has won two individual medals at the Olympics, surprised the entire nation on Sunday night but it had nothing to do with sports.
In this era of mainstream media and social media, Chopra did not let anyone know that he was starting a new innings of his life. He surprised everyone by revealing his marriage with US-based tennis player and coach Himani Mor just 48 hours after tying the knot.
The 27-year-old player sought blessings from people around the world by sharing pictures from his wedding ceremony. Only both the families took part in this marriage ceremony.
He even surprised his more than 10 million followers on social media who were unable to understand how he did it. Chopra’s uncle Bhim Chopra also had no answer to this.
He told PTI, “Neeraj and Himani already knew each other. They met each other about two years ago through some friends. Both the families also know each other for some time. ,
Preparations for the wedding were going on for the last several months, but no news could reach the media which has been closely following the life and career of the star athlete since Neeraj won the Junior World title in 2016.
Bhim Chopra said, “Only members of both the families attended the wedding because Neeraj wanted the same and both the families also wanted the same. The couple has now left for abroad.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) claims it was aware of what was going on and followed the superstar and his family’s wish for privacy.
“He had informed AFI about his marriage,” a top AFI official said. He wanted to do it in private with very close people. He will celebrate with everyone after this session ends.
The wedding ceremony did not take place at their home in Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana. The venue of the ceremony could not be found but it was some place in Himachal Pradesh where it is very cold due to snowfall.
The bride and groom wore light colored attire and in the pictures shared by Neeraj, they are seen sitting with folded hands and closed eyes amid traditional Hindu rituals.
Neeraj’s fans around the world got to see just this glimpse of his wedding. This shows how seriously this star athlete takes his personal life.
In this era when even small things related to the marriage of celebrities are shared on social media, then Neeraj’s marriage was completely opposite to this.
Last year, the number of Neeraj’s ‘followers’ on Instagram had reached above 90 lakhs. This made him the player with the most followers among track and field athletes.
Neeraj and Himani were close to each other for some time but they did not let anyone know about it. Neeraj’s uncle also did not give any information about when both of them decided to make each other their life partner.
Himani hails from Larsauli near Sonipat, which is barely 75 km from New Delhi. He is a tennis player. She achieved her highest ranking of 42 in the singles category of the national rankings in 2018. His highest ranking in doubles has been 27.
Himani is currently a graduate assistant at Amherst College, USA and manages and oversees the institute’s women’s tennis team.
She is also studying to earn a master’s degree from the McCormack Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Himani is an alumnus of Miranda House College, Delhi where she completed her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Physical Education. His brother Himanshu is also a tennis player.
