Foodie to a boxing champ, Nandini comes a long way

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 28

An overweight Nandini never intended to become a professional boxer until she met coaches Jai Hind and Bhagwant Singh.

Just like any other kid, Nandini loved to gorge on food and never thought of shredding weight. One odd day she caught the attention of her physical education teachers who guided her to the boxing ring, and Nandini has never looked back since then.

On Wednesday, the 21-year-old pugilist dominated the competition in the 81+kg category at the 5th Elite Women National Boxing Championship in Hisar to emerge as a champion.

Nandini outplayed Haryana’s Neha 5-0 to win the gold medal and also seal a berth in the AIBA Women’s World Championship, which is scheduled to be held in Istanbul later in December.

“It has been a long journey. I had never thought of becoming a boxer and coming this far. I have been lucky to be guided by extremely professional people and coaches. My parents have been my support throughout,” said Nandini.

An employee of Indian Railways, Nandini represented Chandigarh at various national and international championships before joining the Railways.

“Getting a government job was a turning point in my life. I am able to fully concentrate on my game now. In last few months, we trained at the Indian Railways camp in Guwahati under Sagar Mal Dhayal and Chhotu Laura,” said Nandini, who had earlier won a gold medal in the youth category at the Seven Nations Cup in Serbia.

She also won a bronze medal in the youth nationals in Delhi. “I won’t lower my guard. I am focusing on winning a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and many other championships. I have been switching weight categories and I can try competing in the middleweight category (75kg) – an Olympic category – in the coming years. It’s tough, but I know what I am capable of,” said Nandini.

City golfer Mannat shines in Kolkata

Chandigarh: City girl Mannat Brar won the Eastern India Ladies and Junior Girls Tournament held at Tollygunge Golf Course in Kolkata on Thursday. Mannat wiped out the disappointment of finishing second — one stroke behind the winner at the North Eastern India Ladies and Junior Girls Tournament at Shillong last week — with an impressive outing in Kolkata. A Class 9 student at St Kabir Public School here, Mannat topped the combined ladies, A and B category with a three-day card of 215. The tournament was held from October 25-28. Mannat, who recently joined the Chandigarh Golf Course as a student member, had topped the IGU Girls C Category in 2019 but the budding golfer went through a lean patch thereafter as sports activities across the world came to grinding halt due to Covid pandemic. TNS