Santiago Nieva returns as head coach of Indian women’s national boxing team

It was in Santiago's time as High Performance Director of Indian boxing that Lovlina Borgohain had claimed a historic Tokyo Olympics bronze medal while Amit Panghal had won a historic silver at the 2019 World Championships besides becoming the world number one.

Santiago Nieva was appointed as the head coach of the Indian women’s national boxing team. (PHOTO: BFI)

Santiago Nieva, who used to be Indian boxing team’s High Performance Director from 2017 to 2021, is back at the helm of the Indian women’s national boxing team after the Boxing Federation of India appointed him as the head coach for the Indian women’s national boxing team. The Swedish coach thus returns to India after four years.

It was in Santiago’s time as High Performance Director of Indian boxing that Lovlina Borgohain had claimed a historic Tokyo Olympics bronze medal while Amit Panghal had won a historic silver at the 2019 World Championships besides becoming the world number one in his category.

Indian women’s team had a good season with two gold medals, one silver and one bronze at the World Championships in Liverpool. With the likes of Nikhat Zareen, Jaismine Lamboria, Lovlina Borgohain, and Parveen Hooda into the ranks, Santiago has a solid team to work with.

Speaking on his appointment, Santiago said, “Super excited to come back to India. I had five wonderful years here in my previous stint. I am very much looking forward to this next chapter, and hopefully, we can create something big together. I have had great success working with women boxers in the past. There is a huge potential within the Indian women’s team, and in LA (Olympics 2028), we’ll be aiming for something big and create history.”

Following his earlier stint with India, he most recently served as National Head Coach and Technical Lead of Boxing Australia’s High Performance Unit.

However, Santiago will only be responsible for the women’s team this time around and will take the reins from former head coach D Chandralal who oversaw a notable campaign from the Indian women’s team this season. BFI president Ajay Singh confirmed that he will be an important part of the coaching setup.

The 2026 season is a packed season with Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan and Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. The Indian boxers will start their international season with Asian Championships in March and they will play in the national championships before that.