Gaurav Bhiduri is into the semi-final of World Championships.
In 1988 as a 17-year-old, Dharmendra Bidhuri lost in the quarter-finals to Services’ LK Bose in his first senior nationals. The loss would start a three year-long losing streak for the flyweight boxer till another quarter-final loss against now Indian coach Dharmender Yadav in 1990, which marked the end of his career in the ring. He was married the same year and five years later, set up Bidhuri Boxing Club in Madanpur Khadar village near Sarita Vihar in Delhi, a place where a decade later, his son Gaurav would start his tryst with the sport. When Gaurav became only the fourth Indian boxer to reach the semi-finals of the World Championships, assuring himself of a medal after a 3-0 win over Tunisian Bilel Mhamdi in Hamburg, it brought back memories of all the quarter-final losses for the senior Bidhuri.
“When I started boxing, I reached the quarter-finals in my first year at the senior level but lost to Bose in the quarters. I got a job offer from Services the same year but since we had a family business, I did not join. The following two years saw me losing again the quarters and my father got me married. Perhaps that was the reason I started the club as I wanted to be close to boxing. Gaurav ki aaj ki quarter-final ki jeet ne un sabhi losses ko bhula diya,” shares 49-year-old Dharmendra. Gaurav is also aware of what his achievement means to his father.
“I got a wild card entry into the tournament and the gold medal at the Grand Prix in Czech Republic did help my confidence. I feel so happy for my father, who always had faith in me. In almost every competition, I lost in the quarter-finals and I had to break this barrier,” said Gaurav, who will now face American Duke Ragan. “There was pressure today but I talked with my coaches and countered the Tunisian’s headbutts. Now I want to change the colour of this medal and am eager to create history for India in the world championships,” said Gaurav. His mother Sunita did not watch his quarter-final as Gaurav too has had his share of quarter-final defeats in the the last three years. He lost in the quarter-finals of the 2014 Incheon Asian Games to Uzbekistan’s Shakobidin Zoirov before going down to American Antonio Vargas in the quarter-finals of the Rio Olympics qualifiers in Venuzuela last year. “I do not watch his matches as I still worry for injuries. But then his father would again ask him to train in the basement of the academy. Woh kehte hain har naya tournament ek naya start hota hai aur aaj ka medal bhi hamare liye naya start hai,” Sunita said.
Struggle of early days
Gaurav started boxing at the age of 10 and participated in his first state-level tournament in 2006. He became the sub-junior national champion in Noida in 2006 before joining the senior ranks in 2010 and won a bronze medal at the 2011 National Games where he defeated L Devendro Singh in the quarter-finals in the flyweight category (52 Kg).
“I still remember when he accompanied me for a sub-junior state championships, he was 11 and wanted to fight in the championships. But they had the lower age limit of 12 years. He cried for more than one hour and later I talked with boxing official Narottam Singh Rawat. They organised a show bout against a boxer, who was three years older to him and 5-6 Kg heavier. He defeated him and even though he did not win a medal, he would talk about it to the academy boys for a long time,” remembers Dharmendra.
Bidhuri was also signed by Mumbai Fighters in 2011 for World Series of Boxing and the youngster scored a win against Russian Vladimir Nikitin (who won the bronze medal in 56kg in Rio last year). In 2015, Bidhuri fought eight bouts for Italia Thunders in WSB, and scored four wins in the flyweight division. He was also signed by USA Knockouts but only managed three bouts before the Rio Olympics qualifiers last year.
Last year before joining the USA Knockouts, Bidhuri underwent an operation in Patiala to remove a stone, which meant he had to spend his recovery time in the USA. While he lost in the Rio Olympics qualifiers in Azerbaijan and Venuzuela, Bidhuri suffered an injury to his right hand knuckle which kept him away from the ring for more than two months. It was also a time when the youngster decided to make a switch to the 56 Kg bantamweight category, and he reached the quarter-finals of the world Championships in Baku where he lost to China’s Jiawei Zhang before going down to Japan’s Ryomei Tanaka in the box-off for a quota place. “After the surgery and hand injury. he stayed at the village for more than a month and we would do shadow boxing and work on his footwork. Before the quarter-final today, I talked with Dharmendra Yadav and we still talk about his quarter-final win over me. And we will talk again tomorrow about changing the colour of Gaurav’s medal,” Dharmendra said.
