Giant-slayer Sakshi makes her left jab count to arrive in style in 51kg

“Itni bhookh thi iss gold medal ki. Bohot lamba intezar tha. (I was hungry for this gold after waiting so much.) I didn’t think about Ruby’s history or what she’s done in the past. I wanted to take home the gold and that’s what I did, Sakshi told The Indian Express. “She was crying till the medal ceremony and I was consoling her that all has not ended. Having seen highs and lows in my career too, I could feel her disappointment. With this gold, I can say Sakshi has arrived,” she added.

Sakshi Chaudhary – who replaced Nikhat Zareen in the 51kg category – Preeti Pawar, Jaismine Lamboriya and Lovlina Borgohain are all capable of being in the mix for multi-sport event medals. (AP Photo)

Injury woes

The Dhanana village pugilist belongs to the Bhiwani Boxing Club, and started boxing with Vijender Singh as her role model.

She dominated the world junior boxing circuit alongwith her friend and team-mate Nitu Ghanghas who had two world youth titles. Sakshi won the World junior title in 2016 followed by her two youth titles in 2017 (54kg) and 2018 (57kg). A bronze in Asian Championships in 2021 and her maiden national title followed the next year. The 2022 CWG beckoned.

But a shoulder injury set her back by a whole 18 months. The comeback, as she spent time at her village with parents, training occasionally under coach Jagdish Singh, went south.

“Any junior who wants to make the transition to senior would want to win titles. And I tried that. During the injury, I thought practice would help me avoid negative thoughts. But it worsened,” she recalls.”When it healed, I knew I had to make a fresh start,” says the army boxer.

Her elder brother Aman Chaudhary, who is now a captain in the Indian Army, too remembers the tough times. “There were days Sakshi would feel dejected sitting at home. I would remind her of how our father Manoj Kumar left all of his farm work to support her training as well as how she started boxing seeing Vijender Singh and how she would also win medals like him,” he says.

Sakshi also talks about support from her long-time friend Nitu. “Me and Nitu started boxing on the same day. When she won the title in Birmingham, I saw it as my medal. I know she too would have felt the same when I won the medal last night,” says Sakshi.

The weight shift

After her title at the World Boxing Cup in Astana in 54kg, Sakshi appeared in assessments for the Asian Championships, where Preeti Pawar made the cut. Sakshi decided to step down to the 51kg division, where Nikhat Zareen ruled.

With 48kg world champion Minakshi Hooda too moving to 51kg for the trials, Sakshi would defeat both booking her ticket to Glasgow as well Asian Games. “I have been a coach since 1984 and in my coaching career, I have never seen a left jab as good as Sakshi’s,” coach Jagdish says. 51kg boxers all have speed, but longer levers mattered. “Sakshi utilised her long range well. Nikhat and Ruby White are close range and mid range fighters but Sakshi did not let them come close and also used her right straight and left hook in counters well,” he adds.

Indian women’s head coach Santiago Nieva too believes Sakshi has the game to dominate 51kg, though making weight will remain a challenge. “She faced a very tough opponent in Ruby White in the final. Sakshi used her jab well and showed discipline. She has one of the strongest punches in 51kg and her long range as well as footwork helps her well,” says Nieva.

With the Asian Games next and challenges pouring in from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan as well as China, Japan and Thailand, Jagdish knows his ward needs to work harder. “All these boxers are hard-hitters and mostly rely on close range. Sakshi has to utilise her speed as well as long range against such boxers and all will depend on her timing of punches as well as the counter attacks if she gets drawn into close range,” said Singh.