DREW CROWD TO THE RING

New Delhi, June 10: He exploded on the scene like a seasoned superstar. Not many fit this description in Indian sports, especially without an Olympic medal, but then Dingko Singh was unlike most.

All of 42 and four years after losing over 70 per cent of his liver to cancer, Dingko breathed his last at his Imphal home on Thursday, leaving Indian boxing stunned and the many he inspired with a deep sense of void in their lives.

His single biggest sporting achievement was an Asian Games gold in the 1998 Bangkok edition, which was India’s first in 16 years. But bigger than that was the impact he had on those who watched him out-punch two Olympic medallists that year.

“Oh my god, he was spectacular. That style was something else,” recalled M.C. Mary Kom while talking about how she excitedly queued up to watch him fight in a show bout in Manipur after he came back from the Asiad.

For her it was like finding a hero closer home as she chased her boxing dreams.

That was the Dingko effect on a generation of accomplished northeastern boxing stars, including M. Sunranjoy Singh, L. Devendro Singh and L. Sarita Devi among several others.

Dingko was born to a poor family in Imphal’s Sekta village and meagre resources forced his parents to leave him at a local orphanage.

It was there that scouts from the Special Area Games Scheme (SAG) started by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) first noticed the raw boxing talent in him.

Talented he definitely was, add to that mix a famously mercurial personality and it all added up to make a fearless campaigner in the ring and a daunting man to manage outside it.—