Punching obstacles and showing how it’s done

NAMAKKAL: S Thilak dreams of representing India in the Olympics, boxing to cheers and making his country proud. The 20-year-old from Nammakkal trains for at least seven hours a day, and then opens his academy and coaches his 30 students in kickboxing.

Recounting his beginning in Class VII, Thilak said, “My physical training teacher asked me to take part in kickboxing. I was enthusiastic, but lost my first 15 matches in school as there were no good coaches. After my father passed away, I had to help my mother, and hence couldn’t focus on the game for a few years.”

But once he joined a private college in Tiruchy, Thilak picked up the sport again. “I started kickboxing with the support of a coach at the college. My mother, who is a tailor, was struggling to pay for my education, so I worked at a fast food shop and earned Rs 500 per day. This helped support my education and sports,” he said. After classes, Thilak would work at the fast food shop till beyond midnight, and then hit the bed and wake up early to get back into the ring to train.

“It was hard to sleep after getting back to the hostel from work, as I would stand in the open kitchen for a long time,” he recalled. His hard work paid off, and soon, he took part in the Youth National Boxing Championships at Delhi, Odisha and Maharashtra. “I could only reach the quarterfinals in Odisha and Maharashtra. But last year, I won the gold medal in the under-77 kg category in Delhi, and qualified for the International United Boxing Championship to be held in Malaysia in May 2021,” he said. 

Talking about his academy, which he launched in June 2020, he said, “I want to teach young kids and give them the proper training I never had access to.” Sai Academy is situated at Mohanur, about 17 km from Namakkal. Thilak offers training for free, and all the equipment at the academy was sponsored by his friends. Most people in the village are unaware about boxing, and are too poor to spend money on sports.

When he opened the academy, there were only three students. Today, there are 30 students, and four of them have won laurels in school in State-level matches. However, there are challenges too, as Thilak doesn’t have enough money to keep the academy running. His students now contribute about Rs 50 to cover the rent, but he is soon going to lose the space as his landlord wants it back. “If the State government comes forward to allot a space for my academy, I am ready to continue training village-level students free of cost,” he said.