Fighter Jyoti claims gold, earns Youth Olympics spot

GUWAHATI:  Much before she could learn boxing’s basics, Jyoti showed she was a fighter. She aspired to make a name for herself in the sport. But support is necessary to fuel such ambitions in sports, especially from parents. Unfortunately for the Haryana girl, her parents were against the idea of women’s boxing. “My parents never used to let me go for practice.

They used to tell me we are poor,” Jyoti recalled. But her hunger was beyond her parents’ — who are into farming — imaginations. She started practising under Sudhir Hooda, coach-cum-sarpanch, without her parents’ knowledge. “I started going on my own without their notice. I carried on like that for three-four months before they came to know when I wanted to compete in the state championship. They were mad at me, but allowed me to take part.”

On Sunday here, at the AIBA Women’s Youth World Championships, she was too strong for Russia’s Ekaterina Molchanova in the 51kg decider. Eluding her taller rival, she landed inch-perfect punches and clinched big points for gold, thereby also earning a spot in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (Argentina). The 17-year-old had previously won the youth nationals (48kg) in January and progressed to the national squad. She was named the best boxer after a gold medal effort in Serbia (August) and bronze in Turkey (September).

So what made her take up the sport despite her parents’ disapproval? “In 2012, there was this boy in our neighbourhood, who had won a gold medal in a district level competition. He received praises from all quarters. That made me sit and think, if I can achieve the same, even I’ll earn a lot of praises,” she said. Boxing apart, she is also fond of dancing. “I dance whenever I feel like it, also during training sometimes.” Recalling her learning experience in the past few months, she said, “I used to be a very aggressive boxer. I would go only after my opponent.

I would not box on the back foot, move sideways or play on the counter. During the camp, I learned a lot. Now, I’m a smarter boxer and I plan my game according to my rival.” What next for the diminutive boxer with mammoth dreams? “I want to do well in the Youth Olympics and eventually want to win a medal in the Olympics.” Golden girls Indian girls bagged five gold medals on the final day.

Anupama (81kg) and Neha (+81kg) settled for bronze after quarterfinal losses. anmol@newindianexpress.com Results (Final): 51kg: Jyoti (IND) bt Ekaterina Molchanova (RUS) 5-0; 45-48kg: Nitu (IND) bt Zhazira Urakbayeva (KAZ) 5-0; 54kg: Sakshi (IND) bt Ivy-Jane Smith (ENG) 3-2; 57kg: Shashi Chopra (IND) bt Ngoc Hong Do (VIE) 4-1; 64kg: Ankushita Boro (IND) bt Ekaterina Dynnik (RUS) 4-1.