Chandigarh, January 8
Victories have kept him going and he always enters the ring with a single aim ‘to win.’ This is the instinct that has put him on top of the ladder.
He is Paramjeet Singh Rawat, a 19-year-old Chandigarh-based light fly weight boxer.
“I have two good news to tell you; one is that I have been promoted as ‘Hawaldar’ and the other is that I have found a sponsor “Mittal Trust” which is based in Mumbai. They will pay me Rs 3000 per month,” he said.
Paramjeet came to the limelight when he won the gold medal in the Senior National Boxing Championship held in Chennai in September 2005.
His achievement assumes significance as it happened after a gap of 17 years in the city’s boxing history. He was awarded a cash prize of Rs 5000 for his triumph by the Chandigarh Amateur Boxing Association during the 13th edition of the AK Misra Memorial Boxing meet held at Skating Rink, Sector 10, Chandigarh.
At present posted at the Army Sports Institute, Pune, as Hawaldar, Paramjeet recalled, “It was a challenge for me to prove my worth in this tournament.”
“Earlier, I was not inducted into the Services Sports Control Board of the Services team as I was a new entrant and they were not ready to take a chance with me. So I requested for permission to represent my home state team-Chandigarh. After getting the permission, I participated in the tournament and outclassed the Services boxer in the first round. In the finals, I slugged out international boxer H.K. Jolly and won the gold”.
He has grabbed the bronze in the International Senior Boscker Memorial Men’s Boxing Tournament held at Hungary in January. Paramjeet won his first national medal, which was bronze, at the National School Games in 1999 and after that his name has always featured in the medals tally in the subjunior nationals (gold in 2003), junior nationals (silver in 2004), senior nationals (gold in 2005).
In the Senior International Boxing Tournament held in Hungary, he grabbed the bronze. This was followed by two gold medals - in the Junior International Boxing Meet in Bosnia and Junior Asian Boxing Championship held at Goa.
Paramjeet is full of patriotic instinct and enthusiasm to play for the country. “Now, I am preparing myself to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. If selected, I would not settle for anything less than the gold medal,” said Paramjeet confidently.
Coming from a humble background, his father works as a peon with the Punjab State Tubewell Corporation, Chandigarh. “Initially, boxing was just a time pass but when my brother, Ramesh, who was also a national medallist boxer, brought home medals and trophies, I got inspired and his victories motivated me to take the sport seriously and the results are evident.”
Reminiscing about his earlier days, he said, “I have seen those days, when I could not afford to have the prescribed diet to be a boxer and I had to rely on ‘ghar ka khana’ only. I used to eat a lot of ‘chapattis’ to compensate for the quality food with sprouted pulses, what to talk of boxing gloves and other equipments required for this sport!”
He further said, “My financial crisis could never deter me and somehow I managed to be what I am today”.
