For the last two days, Bhiwani boxer Sakshi Chaudhary has been getting a call from her coach Jagdish Singh, once coach to boxers like Beijing Olympics bronze medallist Vijender Singh and the man behind the Bhiwani Boxing Club, to remind her of one story from Indian mythology.
“Jagdish coach sahib ne yahi yad dilaya 3-4 din se ki tu Hanuman hai,” Sakshi narrates. “Jaise unko unki shaktion ki yaad dilaani padhti hai, tere ko bhi yaad karana padta hai (Jagdish coach sir only told me that I am like lord Hanuman, The way he needed to be reminded of his powers, I too need to be reminded of my abilities). It has been 14 years since I started training and today I have got the chance to play in my first Games CWG and Asian Games. I wanted to win and that’s what I have done here,” shared Chaudhary while speaking with The Indian Express.
With Chaudhary, a former two-time world youth champion and world junior champion, getting a shot at bagging a berth in the Indian women’s team for the CWG and Asian Games, Singh wanted to reassure his ward.
A day after she defeated two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen in the 51-kg trials, Chaudhary out punched 2025 48-kg World Champion Minakshi Hooda in the final to seal the berth.
Bhiwani legacy and weight shift
Sakshi arrived on the world boxing map with her maiden world junior title in 2015 and followed it with two consecutive titles in the World Youth Championships in 2017 and 2018. The Dhanana village native would win the bronze in the Asian Championships in 2021 followed by her maiden national title in 2022. But a shoulder injury the same year meant the boxer missed the nationals as well as trials prior to the 2023 World Championships as well as the Paris Olympics qualifier.
Last year, Chaudhary had won the title in the World Boxing Cup in Astana with a 5-0 win over USA’s Yoseline Perez in the 54- kg category, The 25-year-old had also appeared in the assessments prior to the Asian Championships in Mongolia. Preeti Panwar both won the assessment and the 54-kg title in Mongolia, and was headed for the CWG and Asian Games. So last month, Chaudhary made the decision to drop down to 51-kg, a call that saw her defeating Zareen and Hooda in the trials.
Sakshi arrived on the world boxing map with her maiden world junior title in 2015 and followed it with two consecutive titles in the World Youth Championships in 2017 and 2018. (Express Photo by Harmeet Sodhi)
“When I made the transition from junior to senior, I had three world titles under me and such things always motivate you. But then when the shoulder injury happened, it somehow stopped me. The title in last year’s World Cup made me believe that I am back to my best. Dropping weight to 51 has been a challenge but then I knew I had the height advantage as well as power advantage. In 54-kg, sometimes I would face much taller boxers, who would make the shift from 60 kg,” shared Chaudhary.
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After Nitu Ghanghas in 2022 CWG and Sachin Siwach, it is Chaudhary carrying the Bhiwani flag. “As kids, we heard about boxers like Vijender sir. And when me and Nitu won the world youth titles, once again there was talk of Bhiwani Boxing Club. So it works as a motivation for each one of us,” shares Chaudhary.
Plan against Nikhat and Minakshi
On Wednesday, Chaudhary had scored a 4:1 win over Zareen and on Friday, she outclassed Hooda with a 5:0 verdict. Zareen had earlier emerged as the contender for Asian Championships topping the assessment but a bronze in Mongolia meant that the selection was to be made in this category apart from other categories, where boxers did not reach the final in Mongolia.
Chaudhary speaks about how she relied on her jab as well as long range boxing. “Against Nikhat, I had two challenges. One was to fight the perception of her being the top most boxer in this weight. Nikhat is a boxer with strong willpower and plays from close range. My plan was to play from a distance and used that to my advantage. Minakshi relies on her counter punches and my plan was to box in a counter way against her and not to go near,” shared Chaudhary.
Indian women’s head coach Santiago Nieva weighs in, “Sakshi had a tremendous outing. She gambled by moving down the weight and it paid out very well for her. She dominated today’s bout and she has shown that she is very strong in this weight. She has a good long reach and she has been successful in the trials. Her jab was excellent and it’s a sharp and strong jab which she uses to score. Her footwork and overall ring IQ too has been good. We want her to have more variations in terms of punches. She has a tendency to slap a bit, which she needs to cut. She needs to add more body punches, combinations as well as her inside game. Sometimes the bouts become a little rough,” added Nieva.
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The Indian team for CWG: Sakshi Chaudhary (51kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Jaismine Lamboria (57kg), Priya Ghanghas (60kg), Parveen Hooda (65kg), Arundhati Choudhary (70kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75kg); Men : Jadumani Singh (55kg), Sachin Siwach (60kg), Aditya Pratap Singh (65kg), Sumit Kundu (70kg), Ankush (80kg), Kapil Pokhariya (90kg), Narender Berwal (+90kg); Asian Games : Women: Sakshi Chaudhary (51kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Jaismine Lamboria (57kg), Priya Ghanghas (60kg), Parveen Hooda (65kg), Arundhati Choudhary (70kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75kg); Men: Jadumani Singh (55kg), Sachin Siwach (60kg), Aditya Pratap Singh (65kg), Sumit Kundu (70kg), Ankush (80kg), Kapil Pokhariya (90kg), Narender Berwal (+90kg).
