© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Having scored a win over Paris Olympics silver medallist Julia Szeremeta of Poland in the women’s 57kg final in the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, Haryana boxer Jaismine Lamboriya became the ninth Indian woman boxer to win a Worlds title and only the second to do so in an Olympic category. The Indian boxer, who suffered a loss in the first round at the Paris Olympics, became the world champion within a year of that exit. In an interview to The Indian Express, Lamboriya talks about winning the Worlds title, what she learnt from the Paris Olympics, carrying the legacy of Captain Hawa Singh, her paternal great-granduncle, and the dream to win the Olympic title at Los Angeles in 2028. Excerpts from the interview:
It feels special. I believe it’s the result of all the ups and down I saw in the last four years of my international career. There were moments when I would lose close bouts or would be lacking something in my body. But then each loss teaches one to come back stronger and that’s how I see this world title. Even if I had lost here, I had gone with the belief to give my best and if I am able to execute my plans, then I have achieved the best. I see this title as the result of the hard training as well as work done over the years.
Paris ka Paris main hi beh gaya. Yahi thought tha. I did understand that I needed to work more on myself. And that’s why I started training ten days after the Paris Olympics. I returned to ASI, Pune and understood that I needed to work on my strength as well as change my mindset. While coaches Chhote Lal Yadav and Mohammad Ehteshamuddin would make me box against men too to help me with the physical aspects of the 57kg division, I also worked with psychologist Vikram Mahajan and would read his books Goal is gold and Go Elite. I always believe that apart from the body being in a strong position, a boxer needs to work constantly on the mental aspect. Sometimes, some losses remain in our mind so we need to forget them and get better.
The work we did in the last one year at ASI as well the national camp, I wanted to extend that here at Liverpool. The toughest challenge of course was the final against Szeremeta. She is the kind of boxer who relies heavily on power and I needed to trust my long range boxing. Talking of the challenges ahead, I know the Paris Olympics champion Lin Yu-ting was not here and that some boxers from 60 will shift to 57. I believe 60kg is more about strength but 57kg brings a lot in terms of foot movement and utilising the height advantage in this division. The Asian Games and Commonwealth Games will take place next year and the aim is to win a medal there too. Winning the Olympic gold at the LA Olympics is definitely the biggest target.
When I was a child, my uncles Parvinder Lamboria and Sandeep Lamboria would tell me that my hands almost reached my knee (laughs). I’ve always had good strength in my legs as a boxer. And I worked on it through sand running and hill training under my uncles. I would rewatch bouts of Vijender Singh, who relied on his range a lot and later I would develop a habit of watching bouts of heavyweight boxer Bakhodir Zalalov as well. I believe being is as mental as physical and hence repeating the moves in my mind helps me. Talking about the tag of a long range boxer, I am ready to adapt too. During the World Cup final against Nishinaka Yuna at Astana, I was relying only on long range but then the opening round was split. In the third round, I knew I had to come with a plan to fight from close range and utilised upper cuts as well low jabs to score points.
I have always seen it as my strength. Nupur too has been carrying the legacy of Captain Hawa Singh and we are glad to play our part in creating a legacy for Bhiwani as well India. This World title only reaffirms that idea for us but overall I want to be known as a boxer with a heart and the willpower to dominate the world. Most of the people I meet often tell me that I don’t look like a boxer but then I tell them that no matter how somebody may look, it’s about how we fight in the ring as well within ourselves that makes us stand out in the boxing world.
(Laughs). Well during the bouts, I try to relax and think about my next moves. But like my mother tells me, Chinu, kabhi bhi negative nahi sochna. So be it a win or a loss, I always try to be in a relaxed state of mind and that’s what I was last night as well as today. Yes, there will be some dancing on Haryanvi and Punjabi songs but then that’s something I enjoy everyday between sessions of boxing too.
