When boxed-up emotions flowed

Gaurav Kanthwal

Laishram Sarita Devi is a name that evokes a memory of a teary-eyed bawling figure, on the podium, who refused to accept the bronze medal during the Incheon Asian Games medals ceremony.

Boxing fans across the world, including Abhinav Bindra (who has written the Foreword), still believe that Sarita (60kg) had won the bout that day, but it was the opponent from the host nation who was declared the winner.

Sarita was aghast at the verdict. However, being an international boxer for close to a decade, she had seen the bouts go the other way many a times. Somehow, she managed to keep her emotions in check that day.

All night she held the holy Bible, given to her by husband, close to her chest even though she was born to Hindu parents. She says, it gave her the mental peace and strength to hold the flood of emotions raging in her heart.

Then what was it that made the Manipuri, otherwise a warm, sensitive person and a docile boxer, take a belligerent stand on the podium. In a bizarre act, she had even hung her medal around South Korean Park Ji-Na’s neck to show her resentment.

It has now come out that more than the disappointment of being wronged by the host nation, it was the hurt of finishing second-best yet again to her peer, Mary Kom, a gold medallist in 51kg category, that led the 34-year-old to such an emotional outburst.

‘Till the moment Mary won her bout, Sarita was fine. We both cheered for her loudly… But the moment she saw the flags being prepared for the medal ceremony, her face changed.’ said Thoiba Singh, Sarita’s husband and mentor, in the book Shadow Fighter: Sarita Devi and her Extraordinary Journey.

Sarita Devi and Mary Kom share a long-friendly relationship that began in childhood at coach Leishangthem Ibomcha Singh’s boxing classes. It started turning frosty as the two boxers slugged it out for the lone spot in the 51-kg category.

Sarita believes that many a time, the boxing federation unduly favoured Mary Kom over her and the bitterness kept on growing till the point the duo stopped talking to each other.

Author Suprita Das has identified three instances where Mary Kom stole a march over Sarita Devi and the wedge between the two grew wider.

First: The 2010 Asian Games trial (51kg) in Bhopal that Sarita firmly believed she had won against Mary Kom. The latter won a bronze medal in Guangzhou, China.

Second: At the Olympics qualifiers in China (2012), where Sarita missed out on quota narrowly. Mary won the bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics.

And third: The 2014 Asian Games. In all the three cases, it was so near yet so far for Sarita.

Despite Sarita being technically more accomplished of the two, Mary Kom grabbed the spotlight because of her psychological superiority.

Das has quoted coaches, psychologists, doctors and peers in profiling Sarita as to why she could not achieve her true potential as an amateur boxer. All of them are of the view that Sarita was mentally weak, lacked killer instinct, and was bogged down by her past failures. Mary, on the other hand, was a tigress, selfish and aggressive in her game.

The book reveals the reason why Sarita took the drastic step that day (September 31, 2014) but does not explain why she apologised for her act later. What made her do that — change of mind, persuasion or coercion by IOA officials, the fear of AIBA backlash or the burden of all these things together?