Guts ’n’ glory for Rohtak teen boxer who trained barefoot

Sunit Dhawan

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Tribune News Service

Rohtak, October 13

Rithal village in the district erupted into joy when the news of Manju Rani (19) winning a silver medal in the World Women’s Boxing Championship in Russia on Sunday broke.

Her mother, Ishwanti, distributed ‘laddoos’ among villagers to celebrate the years-long hard work of her daughter. “I am elated at my daughter’s achievement. We are indebted to her mentor Sahab Singh, who worked hard on her and helped her realise her potential,” she told The Tribune,

“Manju has been a sincere and hard-working sportsperson. She has the spark and will do well in the time to come,” says Sahab Singh, a fatherly figure to Manju.

He adopted Manju after the death of her father, Bhim Sen Sharma, in 2010. Sharma, who was a head constable with the Border Security Force (BSF), died of cancer when she was 11 years old. Ishwanti opened a cosmetics shop in her home as the family pension was not enough to support the family.

Ishwanti recalled Manju did not have shoes during initial years of her training and used to practise barefoot. Later, a voluntary organisation provided her with shoes and took care of other requirements.

Manju was interested in athletics and kabaddi at the school level, but chose boxing as her calling.

Like in her initial years, Manju faced hardship later as well. She became a victim of politics and could not get a chance to represent Haryana in boxing. Then, Amanpreet Kaur, chief coach of the junior women’s boxing team of India, came to her rescue and advised her to get admission in a Punjab college.

Subsequently, Manju got admitted to Lovely Professional University, Phagawara, from where she is pursuing her B Sc now.

Kaur also helped Manju in her sporting career. Manju represented Punjab and won a gold medal in Senior National Women Boxing Championship recently.