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Boxing, hitherto regarded as a macho sport, is gaining popularity among women in Visakhapatnam. There are quite a few boxers in the city who have proved their mettle at national and international competitions and bagged gold, silver, and bronze medals and brought laurels to the city.
Four women boxers of Waltair Division, two from the city and one each from Uttarakhand and Manipur, have bagged medals at the 68th Men and 7th Women All India Railway Boxing Championship-2014 that concluded on March 8 at Agra.
The girls exuded confidence as they recalled how the sport helped them in securing a job and in their career.
Monica Saum of Uttarakhand draws inspiration from her father, an Army boxer.
Though her brother is doing MBBS, she took up boxing just to prove that girls are second to none in any field.
“Women need to be encouraged to take up this sport,” she says and advises girls to come out of their shells. Apart from being a means of self-defence, medals will give them an advantage over others in securing jobs.
She already has five gold medals – four at the junior-level and one at the senior-level – besides a silver medal at the Asian Championship in Mongolia.
N. Swapna Priya of Vizag, who won a gold medal at Agra, developed a passion for the sport after watching it at the Afro Asia Games. She got a job in the Railways in 2007 under the sports quota and there was no looking back for her ever since. Punyavathi of Vizag won a silver medal in the Agra championships.
Sarjubala of Manipur, who won a bronze at Agra, had bagged two gold medals in the Chennai Nationals and two gold and two silver medals at the junior-level in the past.
Ch. Adinarayana and Sundu Rao bagged silver medals, while M. Venkatesh bagged a bronze at Agra. Sundu Rao plans to open a boxing club at the Railway Stadium to train aspirants from the city. |
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