22-year-old Nitu Ghanghas scripted history as the Haryana girl won the gold medal for India at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in New Delhi on Saturday.
Who is Nitu Ghanghas?
Nitu (48 kg)
Date of Birth: 19-10-2000
Place of Birth: Bhiwani, Haryana
Style: Southpaw
Dynamic and instrumental inside the ring, the Haryana pugilist marked her arrival by winning the gold medal at the World Youth Boxing Championships in Guwahati in 2017. She showed her prowess on the big stage once more by winning the gold medal at the World Youth Boxing Championships in Budapest in 2018.
Coming from a conservative family, there was little scope that she could enter the world of sports. But her father had other plans: he wanted her to become a boxer.
However, Nitu’s father Jai Bhagwan had to go against the wishes of the entire family to make that happen; he also had to take leave from his office (a Chandigarh Vidhan Sabha employee) for three long years. It meant that the family went through a severe financial crisis. That only prompted Nitu to put her heart and soul into boxing and emerge a winner.
She slowly rose through the ranks at the district level until she caught the eye of renowned boxing coach Jagdish Singh, the tough taskmaster who helped Vijender Singh win the Beijing Olympic bronze medal.
Nitu’s skills and techniques were quickly honed and she went on to represent the State and won her first Nationals in 2015. Since then, she has never looked back.
In 2022, she won the gold medal at Strandja Memorial tournament before finishing in the quarter-finals of World Championships in Turkey in May. She dominated all her bouts and won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
On Saturday, she won a gold medal at the 2023 IBA World Boxing Championship in Delhi.
Nitu Ghanghas’ Achievements
2023: Gold at World Championships, Delhi
2022: Gold at Commonwealth Games, Birmingham
2022: Gold at Strandja Memorial tournament, Bulgaria
2021: Gold at Senior National Championship, Bhopal
2018: Youth Women World Championships, Budapest, Hungary: Gold
2018: Golden Glove of Vojvodina Youth Men & Women Boxing Tournament; Serbia: Gold
2018: Youth Women Nationals; Rohtak: Gold
2018: Asian Youth Championships; Bangkok: Gold
2017: Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships; Guwahati: Gold
2017: Balkan Youth International Boxing Championship; Sofia, Bulgaria: Gold
2016: Youth Women Nationals: Bronze
(With inputs from Agencies)
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