HEAVY HITTER
Manju Rani, who turns 26 on Saturday, is already India’s new boxing hope
AA silver in the light flyweight (48 kg) at the women’s World Boxing Championships in UlanUde, Russia, earlier this month put Manju Rani in the spotlight. The last time an Indian boxer made the final on her worlds debut was M.C. Mary Kom, when she picked up silver in 2001. Yet, this isn’t the medal that Rani cherishes the most.
For a few years, Rani had waited for the opportunity to represent Haryana at the senior women’s nationals. When her prayers proved futile, the 20-yearold switched loyalties to Punjab this year. By the end of the championship, she had not only picked up gold, but also made her way into the national camp. “That medal has been the most important one in my life so far. Without it, I wouldn’t have been in camp or a part of the trials,” Rani says. “I had spent many years working on my game without any rewards. I even thought of quitting at one point in 2017, but my coach, Saheb Singh Narwal, encouraged me to keep at it and keep the faith.”
Narwal took over as mentor after her father Bhim Sen’s death in 2010. Narwal’s own kids were into boxing, so he asked Rani to stay with them and train. “He never made me feel the absence of my father,” she says.
At home in Rithal village, Haryana, Rani’s mother, Ishwati Devi, was her other pillar of support. Running her household and taking care of her five children with her husband’s meagre pension of
Rs 9,000, she pushed Rani to focus on boxing in 2012. “Even though those were hard days, she never made me feel like I was lacking something,” says Rani.
Rani has repaid her faith. From a starry-eyed teenager greeting her idol Mary Kom at the nationals, where she was chief guest, Rani began observing her movements in the ring at camp keenly. The structured training, planned diet and gritty sparring partners led to a silver at the Strandja Memorial, followed by two bronze medals at the India Open and Thailand Open this year.
In Russia, despite the odds, Rani made heads turn after beating top seed, Kim Hyang-Mi from North Korea, in the quarterfinals. “Beating her did wonders for my confidence, so in the semi-final, I knew I would beat Chuthamat Raksat, whom I had lost to at the Thailand Open,” Rani says.
Despite a hearty effort in the final against local favourite Ekaterina Paltceva of Russia, Rani fell short. But, she had done enough to earn her mother’s aloo
paranthas to ring in her birthday and Diwali celebrations this week.
Manju Rani lived and trained with her coach and his children after her father’s death