Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], October 10 (ANI): Former junior world champion boxer Mandeep Kaur is gunning for a gold medal on the thirty sixth National Games, hoping {that a} podium end right here would open up doorways for her recruitment in Punjab Police and finish her dependence on her father’s farm earnings to fund her dietary necessities.
The two-time gold medallist on the Inter-University Games started her National Games marketing campaign with a simple win over Tamil Nadu’s J Hanna Joy within the 57kg class.
“It’s been a tough journey, especially when I have to go back to my father asking for money for supplements. Whatever pocket money I get from my family is exhausted in diet. It is difficult when you don’t have any sponsors to back you. But then life is all about hopes, and I hope the doors open for me once I win a National Games gold,” she added.However, the highway to the National Games gold will not be a cakewalk for the Punjab boxer with Assam’s Jamuna Boro, a former world championship medalist and a pre-tournament favorite, additionally in fray within the 57kg weight class.”There are many good boxers in the category, it can be anybody’s day in the ring going forward. Each bout is different as we get to face boxers with different techniques, that is the charm of the sport, isn’t it?” she added.
Mandeep Kaur, who hails from Chakar village close to Ludhiana which can be the native place of Tokyo Olympian Simranjit Kaur Baath, fell in love with the game on the age of seven. But her father’s monetary situation made it tough for him to pay for her gloves or coaching tools. But Sher-e-Punjab Sports Academy got here ahead to sponsor the lady and she or he hasn’t seemed again since then.
The teenager, who had joined the academy after following within the footsteps of her elder brother, received the 2011 and 2012 National Sub-junior titles, earlier than choosing up a gold medal within the 4th Junior Nations Boxing Cup held in Serbia in 2015.
After the junior world championship gold, Mandeep Kaur was chosen to coach below Dronacharya awardee Cuban coach Blas Iglesias Fernandez at PIS, Mohali. “Simranjit and I train at the same centre in Mohali under Fernandez sir. There are many boxers from Punjab and across the country who come and train at the academy, where thankfully I don’t have to worry about diet, the most essential need for any athlete,” she mentioned.While Mandeep Kaur missed out on a shot on the Tokyo Olympics, the 22-year-old now goals to make an affect as preparations for the subsequent Olympic cycle have already began. And after the National Games, Mandeep will head again to the camp in Mohali to organize for the senior nationwide boxing championships in Bhopal in December.
“It will be a very busy year for all boxers. I will head straight to the camp after the National Games, and will start preparing for the national championships. Winning the nationals will open the doors for national selection. Then we have the world championships and the Asian Games before the final goal of representing India in Paris,” the 2019 nationwide championship bronze medallist mentioned earlier than signing off. (ANI)