Indian boxers are carrying high hopes for the Asian Games

Khel Today Bureau 

New Delhi: Indian boxers are carrying high hopes of brilliant performance in the 19th Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8.

Here are pofile and pictures of all the 13 boxers who are going to represent India at the Asian Games.

Boxing events will start from September 24 and will run until October 5

Men’s Squad

Deepak Bhoria (51kg)

Date of Birth: 09/06/1997

Hometown: Hisar, Haryana

Stance: Orthodox

In 2008, when Deepak was just an 11-year-old he started boxing at the insistence of his uncle. His father was a constable and his mother, a homemaker, who also worked in the farms. Life was never easy. In 2009, due to dire financial constraints, young Deepak was forced to quit boxing as he couldn’t afford the expenses on diet and training which were a must to ensure he had a good physique and mental training.

His dreams of becoming a boxer were almost over, but his coach, Rajesh Sheoran helped him back into the ring. He helped him by paying his diet and training expenses. In 2011, when everything seemed to move smoothly, Deepak was struck by a mighty blow where he suffered a career-threatening fracture to his right hand. The fracture continued to trouble him for almost two years before he underwent surgery.

While everything looked uncertain about his professional career and he had started doubting himself, that injury gave Deepak new perspectives. While he was unable to move his right hand, he slowly strengthened his left hand which he says helped him a lot now as he is equally deft to fighting with both hands.

Despite the downhill that boxing faced with a dearth of competitive tournaments, Deepak never gave up. He continued with training but in 2015, life threw in a fresh set of challenges for the pugilist. The financial crisis was something which continued to haunt him, so much so that the boxer had to work as a newspaper vendor to sustain himself.

Finally, in 2016, there was some silver lining in the dark clouds. He joined Madras Engineering Group, Bangalore, and later that year, he also was selected by the Army Sports Institute, Pune. Since then, he has never looked back. His financial crisis was taken care of and his career saw an upswing. Deepak won a gold medal at 2018 Senior National Championship and in 2019 he won a gold medal at the Makran Cup on international debut.

Deepak carried that confidence into the 2019 Asian Boxing Championships and stormed into the final, where he had to settle for the silver in a tight match that went in favour of Nodirjon Mirzakhmedov of Uzbekistan 3-2.

He announced himself on the global stage in 2021 when he defeated the 2016 Rio Olympic gold medallist and 2019 World Champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan at the Strandja Memorial tournament.

2022 was a tough year for Deepak as he sustained an injury in his right shoulder in January and almost spent the whole year on the sidelines because of that.

Deepak made a strong comeback clinching the bronze medal at the World Championships 2023 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In a scintillating campaign Deepak, recorded three unanimous decision wins and also toppled Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibossinov in the round of 32 clash. Deepak would be keen to continue his good form and book his ticket for the Paris Olympics at the Asian Games.

 

Achievements :

2023 – Bronze at Men’s World Championships, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

2021 – Gold at National Championships, Bellary

2021 – Silver at Strandja Memorial, Bulgaria

2019 – Silver at Thailand Open

2019 – Asian Boxing Championships, Bangkok: Silver

2019 – Makran Cup, Iran: Gold

2018 – Senior National Boxing Championships: Gold

Sachin (57kg)

Date of Birth: 25/11/2002

Hometown: Mitathal, Bhiwani

Stance: Southpaw

Hailing from a humble farmer’s family, Sachin’s journey to the world of Boxing was through his uncle’s support, who is also a sportsman. His desire to become a boxer and represent India turned into reality when he was introduced to a boxing coach and then there was no looking back as he trained at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to become one of the best upcoming boxers in the country.

Sachin rose to prominence in 2021 when he won a gold medal at the World Youth Championships in Poland. However, it wasn’t an easy task as he had lost in the domestic selection trials of the Adriatic Pearl Tournament which was held before the youth championship. The psychological impact of losing a domestic trial was heavy but the pugilist worked hard for his dreams and then won a medal in Poland.

At the national Championships in 2021, he announced his arrival at the elite level after defeating 2017 World Championships bronze medallist Gaurav Bidhuri.

He couldn’t participate at the Asian Championships in Jordan in October 2022 as he underwent a surgery for appendicitis days before the championships. He came back strongly and won the gold medal at the National Championships in Hisar.

He hasn’t looked back since then and recently won a bronze medal at the Strandja Memorial in Bulgaria this year. Sachin made his Elite Men’s World Boxing Championships debut in the 2023 edition of the competition Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In an impressive campaign for the youngster, he showed glimpses of his talent by making his way into the pre-quarters with some remarkable wins in the early rounds.

Achievements :

2023 – Men’s World Championships, Tashkent, Uzbekistan – Participated

2023 – Bronze medal at Strandja Memorial, Bulgaria

2023 – Gold medal at National Championships, Hisar

2022 – Bronze medal at Elorda Cup, Nur-sultan, Kazakhstan

2021 – Gold medal at World Youth Championships, Poland

2021 – Bronze medal at National Championships, Bellary

 

 

Shiva Thapa (63.5 Kg)

Date of Birth: 08/12/1993

Place of Birth: Guwahati, Assam

Stance: Orthodox

It has been an incredible rise for the Guwahati lad as he became the youngest Indian to qualify for the Olympics when he featured in the 2012 edition of the quadrennial event in London. Shiva was also the youngest boxer from India to win a gold medal at the 2013 Asian Championships which was held in Amman, Jordan.

Youngest amongst six siblings, Shiva carried boxing in his blood. His brother was a silver medallist boxer at the 33rd Guwahati Nationals. Following his footsteps, Shiva has now scaled immense success and is one of the most respected boxers in the World. He won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Two-time Olympian Thapa continued his good work with two bronze medals in 2018, one in India Open International and one at the Ulaanbaatar Cup. Thapa started 2019 with a silver medal from the Gee Bee Boxing Tournament.

He created history last year when he became the first male pugilist to win six Asian Championships medals when he claimed silver medal in Jordan. His previous two silver medals came in 2017 and 2021. He also clinched the title in the 2013 edition and secured bronze medals in 2015 and 2019. He has been consistently winning medals since a decade and it’s a testimony to his longevity and talent.

The experienced pugilist will be looking to add an Asian Games medal to his illustrious medal tally.

Achievements  :

2023 – Men’s World Championships, Tashkent, Uzbekistan – Participated

2023 – Gold medal at National Championships, Hisar

2022 – Silver medal at Asian Championships, Jordan

2021 – Gold at National Championships, Bellary

2021 – Silver at Asian Championships, Dubai

2019 – Gold at Senior National Championships, Bellary

2019 – Gold at India Open, Guwahati

2019 – Bronze at Asian Championships, Bangkok

2019 – 38th Gee Bee Boxing Tournament, Helsinki, Finland: Silver

2018 – Asian Games, Jakarta: Participated

2018 – Ulaanbaatar Cup 2018; Mongolia: Bronze

2018 – WSB Boxer for Indian Tigers

2018 – India Open International Tournament; New Delhi: Bronze

2017 – Indian National Championships; Visakhapatnam: Silver

2017 – Grand Prix Tournament (Usti Nad Labem, CZE): Gold

2017 – Asian Boxing Championships; Tashkent: Silver

2016 – Indian National Championships; Guwahati: Gold

2016 – Olympic Games (Rio de Janeiro, BRA): Participant

2016 – Southeast Asian Games; Shillong: Gold

2015 – World Championships (Doha, QAT): Bronze

2015 – ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships (Bangkok, THA): Bronze

2015 – Doha International Tournament (Doha, QAT): Gold

2014 – Commonwealth Games (Glasgow, SCO): 9th place

2013 – ASBC Asian Continental Championships (Amman, JOR): Gold

2013 – Korotkov Memorial Tournament (Khabarovsk, RUS): Bronze

2012 – London 2012 Olympic Games (London, GBR): Participant

2012 – AIBA Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament (Astana, KAZ): Gold

2012 – Grand Prix Usti Nad Labem (Ustinad Labem, CZE): Silver

2011 – Indian National Championships: Gold

2011 – Beogradski Pobednik Tournament (Belgrade, SRB): Gold

2011 – Indian National Games: Silver

2010 – Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games (Singapore, SIN): Silver

2010 – AIBA Youth World Championships (Baku, AZE): Silver

2009 – AIBA Junior World Championships (Yerevan, ARM): Bronze

2009 – Indian Junior National Championships: Gold

2008 – Indian Junior National Championships: Gold

2008 – Children of Asia Games (Yakutsk, RUS): Bronze

2008 – Heydar Aliyev Junior Cup (Baku, AZE): Gold

Nishant Dev (71 kg)

Date of Birth: 23/12/2000

Hometown: Karnal, Haryana

Stance: Southpaw

Nishant Dev burst onto the scene when he reached the quarter-finals of the Elite World Boxing Championship in 2021 in his debut International tournament. That, however, was just a glimpse of the talent that Nishant Dev possesses. Nishant bettered his previous editions standing by winning the bronze medal at 2023 edition of the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships. The 22 year old displayed his ability through his world class performances by notching three wins by unanimous decisions and one by referee stopping the contest (RSC).

Hailing from Haryana’s Karnal district, Nishant started boxing in 2012, after getting inspired by his uncle who was a professional boxer. He used to train at Karan stadium under coach Surender Chauhan. He remembers those days

when his Father used to wake him up at 4 AM and accompany him to the training centre before going along with his son again in the evening to make sure that he gets to train properly.

Representing Karnataka, he had lost in the quarter-final at his first Senior National Championships in Baddi in 2019, but impressed the then high-performance director of Indian boxing Santiago Nieva and joined the Indian camp to learn from the best in the business.

In 2021, he grabbed the gold medal at the National Championships and went on to represent India at the World Championships. It was the first International tournament of his career as before that, he had not even competed at Junior or Youth level internationally. He impressed everyone with his fearless boxing as he played without any pressure. He defeated Hungary’s nine-time National Champion Laszlo Kozak in the first round before outclassing two time Olympian Merven Clair of Mauritius in the second round. High on confidence after defeating two big names, he went on to win against Mexico’s Marco Alvarez Verde before bowing out in the quarter-finals.

Nishant had dislocated his right shoulder in 2010 after falling from stairs. The old injury came back to haunt him at the beginning of 2022 as the rod that was put in his shoulder in 2010 got infected. He underwent surgery in March and was in rehab for most of the year. During his rehabilitation period, he had a lot of doubts and insecurities regarding his comeback but he kept fighting on and worked on his strength, power and conditioning. Despite limited training, he came back strongly to retain his title at the National Boxing Championships in Hisar in January 2023.

At the 2023 World Championships, he impressed everyone and won the bronze medal.

Fitter, stronger and wiser, Nishant, is a fan of Floyd Mayweather

 

Achievements:

2023 – Bronze at Men’s World Championships, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

2023 – Gold medal at 6th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championship

2021-  Quarter-Final Finish at World Championships, Serbia

2021 – Gold medal at 5th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championship

2019 – Gold medal at Grand Slam Asian boxing championship

2019 – Silver medal at 4th elite men’s national boxing championship

2019 – Gold medal at 2nd Khelo India youth games

 

Lakshya Chahar (80 kg)

Date of Birth: 17/09/2001

Hometown: Jaipur, Rajasthan

Stance: Southpaw

Born in a middle class family, Lakshya’s boxing journey started when he was 14 years old. Lakshya’s elder brother was an aspiring boxer and used to do practice at the local academy. Lakshya who was good at studying had no interest in the sports but would accompany his brother at the academy sometimes. Gradually by watching his brother and other boxers practice in the academy, he developed an interest in boxing.

Lakshya’s parents were against his desire of making a career in boxing as he was a good student, but he was determined to try his hands in boxing. After a few days of trying to convince his parents, his father finally agreed but on one condition that only if he wins the gold medal at the Rajasthan State Championship.

Lakshya grabbed this opportunity with both hands and gave his best to ultimately win the gold at the Rajasthan State Championship which ultimately convinced his parents to let him pursue his passion of boxing.

To take his game to the next level, Lakshya shifted to Bhiwani, the place known as the Mini Cuba. The decision worked wonders for Lakshya as he went on to win the gold medal in first Khelo India Games held in New Delhi. From there onwards, he never looked back, continued his growth and participated in Youth World Championships 2018 and also won the gold medal at the youth nationals in 2019. Lakshya participated in the 2021 Elite Men’s World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

Lakshya gives credit of his success to his brother who made sure Lakshya got everything he wanted to focus on his training. Lakshya aims to win a gold medal at the upcoming Asian games and targets a podium finish at the Paris Olympics.

Achievements :

2022 – Asian Boxing World Championships – Participated

2021 – Boxing World Championships – Participated

2019 – Gold medal at Youth Nationals

2016 – Gold at the 25th memorial Julias Torma Tournament, Czech Republic

Sanjeet (92 Kg)

Date of Birth: 16-10-1995

Place of Birth: Rohtak, Haryana

Stance: Orthodox

About two years ago in 2021, boxer from Haryana Sanjeet made the headlines after winning the gold medal at the Asian Championships. As he defeated Rio Olympics silver medallists and five-time Asian Championships medallists in the Vassiliy Levit of Kazakhstan in the final. Sanjeet terms the win against Levit as the biggest moment of his career. However, it wasn’t unusual for the Rohtak boy to beat big opponents. Earlier in 2018, a fan of two-time Olympic champion Vasyl Lomachenko, Sanjeet defeated the world champion bronze medalist Kazakh boxer Sanjar Tursunov in the final of the India Open International Boxing Championship in New Delhi.

Sanjeet took to boxing after watching his brother play. In fact, he started playing the sport so that he wouldn’t need to focus on studies. Initially, he faced some resistance from his parents who wanted him to focus on studies but Sajeet was clear about what he wanted. And when he started winning tournaments at state level, his parents got convinced and began supporting him.

Injuries are part and parcel of an athlete’s life and it has not spared Sanjeet either. In 2019 a biceps injury kept him away from the Tokyo Olympics qualifiers and then he again suffered a shoulder injury during the 2021 World Championships that kept him out for a significant time.

He represented India at the 2022 CWG in Birmingham and started 2023 by winning the silver medal at the men’s Nationals and will now look to grab the podium finish at this year’s  Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on his way to fulfill his Olympic dreams.

Achievements:

2023: Silver at the National Championships, Hisar

2021: Gold at National Championships

2021: Men’s World Championship- Quarter finals

2021: Gold at Asian Championships, Dubai

2020: Gold at Alexis Vastine International Boxing Tournament, France

2019: World Championship quarter-finalist, Russia

2018: Senior Men’s National Boxing Championships, Pune: Gold

2018: India Open International Boxing Championship, New Delhi: Gold

2018: World Series of Boxing (WSB), Rohtak: 1 win

Narender Berwal (92+ kg)

Date of Birth: 14/11/1994

Hometown: Hisar, Haryana

Stance: Orthodox

Narender Berwal started boxing in 2009 and soon moved to SAI Centre to improve his skills and make a name for himself. He trained there for four years and won gold medals in two Youth National Boxing championships in 2011 and 2012 before joining the Indian Army in 2013.

Joining the Army changed Narender Berwal’s career as his training regime got more intense and the results became more consistent. He trained at ASI Pune and won numerous medals in the inter-services Boxing Championships which helped him prepare for bigger competitions.

He won the gold medal at the 2019 SAF Games in Nepal.

Narender, who relies on his power and strength, won the gold medal at the National Championships in 2021 and finished in the quarter-finals at the World Championships in the same year. In October last year, he won a bronze at the Asian Men’s Boxing Championships. Narender. Narender reached the pre-quarters at IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships 2023 in Uzbekistan and would be looking to secure a medal at the Asian Games.

Achievements :

2023 – Men’s World Championships, Tashkent, Uzbekistan – Participated

2023 – Gold medal at 6th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championship

2022 – Bronze medal at Asian men’s boxing championship

2022 – Gold medal at 36th National Games

2021 – Gold medal at 5th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championship

2019 – Gold medal at South Asian Games

2019 – Gold medal at 4th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championship

2018 – Bronze medal at chemistry world cup

2015 – Silver medal at National Games.

 

Women’s Squad

 

Nikhat Zareen (50 kg)

Date of Birth: 14-06-1996

Place of Birth: Nizamabad, Telangana

Style: Orthodox

The two time world champion, Nikhat Zareen is amongst the current crop of boxers to have flourished at the international stage. With her slew of wins as a teenager and a promising career to look forward to, she was soon struck by a tragedy. The 2011 world junior champion snapped her shoulder in 2017 during an Inter-University Championships bout, forcing her out of the ring for nearly a year.

While the Nizamabad-based pugilist broke all barriers to become the first Muslim girl to take up boxing professionally and represent India, staying away from the ring for almost a year was the toughest phase of her life so far.

Defying all odds and the detractors, the 26-year-old made a resounding comeback. In her comeback tournament at the 2018 Belgrade International tournament in Serbia, she won the gold medal. It is the unfathomable self-belief and determination that makes Zareen plough through.

Nikhat showed her determination and prowess on her debut at the Asian Championships in 2019. She came up with the bronze and her campaign included a stunning win over the two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay.

In 2022, the boxer became the only fifth Indian woman to win Senior World Championships gold. Having proved her mettle at the World Championships, the pugilist from Nizamabad continued her rich form and won the gold medal at Commonwealth Games in Birmingham followed by the gold medal at the National Championship in Bhopal.

Playing her second Elite World Championships Nikhat proved her mettle once again clinching the second consecutive gold medal at the 2023 IBA Women’s World Championships. She also  became only the second Indian female to have two World Championships gold medals to her name. She will be looking to shine at the Asian Games and book her ticket for the Paris Olympics.

 Achievements:

2023: Gold medal at World Championships, New Delhi, India

2022: Gold medal at National Boxing Championship, Bhopal

2022: Gold medal at Commonwealth Games, Birmingham

2022: Gold medal at World Championships, Istanbul

2022: Gold medal at Strandja Boxing Tournament, Bulgaria

2021: Gold medal at National Boxing Championships, Hisar

2021: Bronze medal at Istanbul Bosphorus tournament in Turkey

2019: Bronze medal at India Open, Guwahati

2019: Silver medal at Thailand Open

2019: Asian Boxing Championships, Bangkok: Bronze

2019: 70^th Strandja Boxing Tournament, Sofia, Bulgaria: Gold

2018: 56th Belgrade Winner International Championship; Serbia:

2018: Women Senior Nationals; Rohtak; Haryana: Bronze

2015: Gold at Senior National Championship, Guwahati

2011: Junior and Youth World Championship, Turkey: Gold

Preeti (54Kg)

Date of Birth: 23-10-2003

Place of Birth: Bhiwani, Haryana

Stance: Southpaw

Preeti started boxing at the tender age of just 14. With no interest in boxing, Preeti was introduced to the sport by her uncle Vinod who was himself a national level medallist boxer. Vinod convinced Preeti’s father who works as an ASI officer in Haryana Police to let her try hands in boxing and started coaching her.

Preeti got full support from her family in pursuing  a career in boxing and she didn’t let down their belief . Preeti quickly climbed the ladder, playing her first major tournament at the Open State tournament in Panipat and clinching a gold medal at the youth nationals. Preeti continued her phenomenal form winning the silver and gold medal at the Khelo India Games 2020 (Guwahati) and 2021 (Panchkula) respectively.

Preeti shone on the international stage, taking silver at the Youth Asian Championships 2021 and bronze at the senior Asian Championships 2022. She made her World Championships debut at the 2023 edition in New Delhi where she reached the pre-quarters and impressed everyone with her gutsy displays.

Achievements:

2023: Women’s World Championships – Participated

2022: Bronze medal at the Asian Championships, Jordan

2021: Gold at Khelo India Youth Games , Panchkula

2021: Youth Asian Championships , Silver

2020: Silver at Khelo India Youth Games , Guwahati.

Parveen Hooda (57kg)

Date of Birth: 15-4-2000

Hometown: Rurki Village, Rohtak, Haryana

Style: Orthodox

There was a time when Parveen didn’t even have the resources to buy boxing gloves. Her family had a buffalo and a small tract of land which helped them sustain themselves. In 2011, life took a different turn when the Sarpanch of her village, Sudhir Hooda decided to start a handball and boxing academy in the village to tackle the menace of drugs and joblessness in the village.

Inspired by Mary kom and Vijender Singh, Parveen took up the opportunity and never looked back. She used to get involved in classroom fights against boys in school and that also pushed her to channelize her energy in the boxing ring.

In 2019, She came into limelight after defeating the veteran Sarita Devi in domestic trials. She ended 2019 with a gold medal at the South Asian Games and has carried forward the momentum since then.

After becoming the National Champion in 63kg in 2021, She won the biggest medal of her career when she bagged the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships in Turkey. She further established her growing reputation with a gold medal at the Asian Championships in Jordan in 2022.

With big medals and confidence in her bag, Parveen’s eyes are all set for glory at the Asian Games.

Achievements:

Gold at 2022 Asian Championships, Jordan

Bronze at 2022 World Championships, Turkey

Gold at 2021 Senior Nationals, Hisar

Gold at 2019 South Asian Games, Nepal.

Jaismine (60kg)

Date of Birth: 30-08-2001

Place of birth: Bhiwani, Haryana

Style: Southpaw

The young pugilist, who dreams to win gold in the Olympics, is single-mindedly focused on achieving her dreams. She has grown up watching two of her uncles winning international tournaments and that inspired her to explore the world of Boxing. Belonging from a humble family where her father works as a home guard and mother, a housewife, Jaismine had a fair share of struggle during the initial days of training. However, she is grateful to her uncles as they are her support system and trained her while she juggled between studies and training. She sheds her blood and sweat while being under rigorous training at her uncle’s training academy as her aim is to win the international championships.

With the support of her uncle, who is also her coach, Jasmine was able to win several national and international tournaments and have won gold at Youth Eskar All Female Box Cup 2019 at Dublin, Ireland and 3rd youth women’s National boxing championship 2019 at Rudrapur, Uttarakhand. She made her senior debut at the 2021 Boxam International tournament where she impressed everyone and won a silver medal. And in the same year at the Asian Championships she claimed a bronze medal.

Jaismine defeated Tokyo Olympian and World Championships bronze medallist Simranjeet Kaur at the 2021 Nationals before defeating her in the trials for 2022 World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.Jaismine reached the quarterfinals in the competition and justified her growing stature by winning the bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

In the 2023 World Championships, Jasmine repeated the similar feat as the previous edition by reaching the quarterfinals of the competition held in New Delhi. With more experience under her belt, she will be looking to make her mark at the Asian Games.

Achievements:

International Tournaments

Women’s world Championships 2023 – Participated

Bronze at 2022 Commonwealth Games, Birmingham 

2021 Asian Boxing Championships- bronze medal          Boxam International Boxing tournament Castellon Spain 1st to 7th March 2021 – Silver medal

Youth Eskar All Female Box Cup 2019 at Dublin, Ireland (gold medal)

ASBC Asian youth men’s and women’s boxing championship in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on 11th to 17th November,2019 (bronze medal)

National level

1. 3rd youth women’s National boxing championship 2019 at Rudrapur, Uttarakhand (Gold medal)

2.All India University February 2019 at Udaipur, Rajasthan (Gold medal)

3. All India University boxing tournament from 20th to 24th December 2019 at C.C.S. University, Meerut (Gold medal)

4.khelo India youth games from 10th to 22nd January 2020 at Guwahati, Assam (Gold medal)

5. Khelo India University games from 25th to 1st March 2020 at Bhuvneshwar, Oddisha ( bronze medal)

6: Silver at 2021 Senior National Championships, Hisar

7: Silver at 2022 National Games, Gujarat

Arundhati Choudhary (66kg)

Date of Birth: September 5, 2001

Place of Birth: Kota, Rajasthan

Style: Southpaw

Arundhati hails from India’s educational hub town of Kota, Rajasthan. From childhood, Arundhati had great interest in sports but her father wanted her to study and become an engineer as she was a brilliant math student, but destiny had something else for her as she was determined to make a career in sports. Arundhati was finally able to convince her father but he agreed on one condition for her to play an individual sport. Arundhati had various options in her mind but she decided to go ahead with boxing.

Arundhati started winning accolades at youth and junior level and never looked back since. A three-time gold medal winner at the Khelo India Games, her skills and extensive training led her to bag gold in 60kg, 66kg and 69kg at various National and International tournaments. Her successful performances got noticed by the boxing fans globally which got her the title of Best Asian Junior Women Boxer in the year 2018.

Arundhati announced her arrival at the International stage by winning the gold medal at the 2021 IIBA Youth Men’s and Women’s World Championships where she dominated in all her bouts.

With the dream to win a gold medal for India at the Olympics, Arundhati would be looking to shine at the upcoming Asian Games, which serves as an Olympic qualifier for the boxers.

Achievements:

National

Gold – 60 kg -1st Junior National Boxing Championship, Haryana, 2017

Silver- 70kg – 2nd Junior National Men & Women Boxing Championship, Mohali, 2018

Gold – 60 kg -1st Khelo India School Games, Delhi, 2018

Gold – 2nd Khelo India Games, Pune, 2019

Gold – 69 kg – Khelo India Guwahati 2020

Gold – 70kg- Women’s Nationals, 2021

 International

1-Gold – 60 kg – Valeria Demyanova International Tournament in 2017

2- Gold – 60 kg – 7th National Cup Serbia, 2018

3- Gold – 66kg – 2nd Junior Nations Cup, Vrbas, Serbia in 2018

4- Silver- 69kg – Boxem International Youth Tournament Murcia, Spain in 2019

5- Participated – 69kg – Golden Gloves, Serbia, Subotica in 2019

6- Bronze – 69 kg – ASBC Youth Asian Men & Women Championship Mongolia in 2019

7- Gold – 69 Kg – AIBA Youth Men’s and Women’s World Boxing Championships 2021 Kielce, Poland.

Lovlina Borgohain (75 Kg)

Date of Birth: 02-10-1997

Place of Birth: Assam

Style: Orthodox

 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina has enjoyed success since her foray and her journey into the contact sport is an intriguing affair. Following the footsteps of her twin sisters Licha and Lima, the Assamese first took up kickboxing. It was only when she met her first coach Padum Boro, her life took a definite turn. Boro, who worked at Sports Authority of India’s Shillong and Dimapur centers, introduced her to boxing and since then there has been no looking back for Lovlina.

Having found her love in boxing, Lovlina was always on the lookout for an opportunity. And it came within a few months. SAI was holding the trials at Barpathar Girls High School, where she studied, and Lovlina showed her skills when she took part in the trials. That’s how Boro noticed her exceptional talent and started honing it from 2012.

Cut to 2018, the 20-year-old has represented India at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. She was selected for the prestigious event on the back of some brilliant performances in recent months — gold at India Open, bronze at Asian Championships in Vietnam and bronze at President’s Cup in Astana. The boxer from Assam ensured a bronze medal for herself in her maiden appearance at the World Championship which took place in India for the very first time in November, 2018. She also won a gold medal at the 3^rd Elite Women’s Nationals in Vijayanagar.

In 2019, she won another bronze medal in the World Championships in Russia and in 2020, became the first boxer from Assam to qualify for Tokyo Olympics and then became India’s only second woman boxer to win a medal at the Olympics after Mary Kom.

She ended her 2022 on a high note as she won the gold medal at the Asian Championships in Dubai and the Senior National Championships in Bhopal. Lovlina continued her glorious run in 2023 by winning the gold at the IBA Women’s World Championships 2023 in New Delhi. Competing in her first World Championships final, Lovlina faced a tough challenge against the two-time Commonwealth Games medallist Parker but came on top winning her third World Championships medal in front of home fans.

Achievements:

2023: Gold medal at World Championships, New Delhi, India

2022: Gold at 2022 Senior National Championships, Bhopal

2022: Gold at 2022 Asian Championships, Dubai

2021: Bronze at Tokyo Olympics

2020: Bronze at Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualifier, Jordan

2019: Bronze at World Championships, Russia

2019: Gold at Umakhanov Memorial International Boxing Tournament, Russia

2019: Silver at India Open, Guwahati

2019: 70^th Strandja Elite Women Boxing Championships, Sofia, Bulgaria: Bronze

2019: 3rd Women’s National Championship, Vijaynagar: Gold

2018: 20th AIBA Women’s World Championship, Delhi: Bronze

2018: Ulaanbaatar Cup, International Boxing Championship, Mongolia: Silver

2018: Indian Women’s Senior National Championships, Rohtak: Silver

2018: Indian Open Boxing Tournament, New Delhi: Gold

2017: President’s Cup tournament in Astana: Bronze

2017: Asian Boxing Championships, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: Bronze

2015: Nations Women’s Youth Cup (Subotica, Serbia): Silver

2014: Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Memorial Tournament (Subotica, Serbia): Bronze

2014: Nations Women’s Youth Cup (Vrbas, Serbia): Bronze

2013: Nations Women’s Junior Cup (Zrenjanin, Serbia): Silver

2012: Indian Women’s Junior National Championships: Gold.