They name her the “boxer girl” right here, and put up her World Championships gold two weeks again, merely “Nitu champion.” In Bhiwani’s Dhanana village, Nitu Ghanhghas first turned into a family identify the day she bashed up a boy locally many moons in the past. The 48kg international identify, alternatively, gave the village a much more credible explanation why to rejoice. And so, they did. The cobbled side road resulting in her unremarkable residing was once lit up with firecrackers as Nitu punched her solution to a maiden senior Worlds identify.
“It was Holi and Diwali at once; nothing like we had ever experienced before,” remarked her cousin.
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An afternoon later, Nitu’s father Jai Bhagwan, expecting a hurry of holiday makers, unhooked the punching bag that hung smack within the middle in their frugal front room and positioned it subsequent to some of the many unplastered cabinets wearing Nitu’s trophies. A small velocity bag although nonetheless hangs like just a little balloon. The room itself has no typical ornamental pieces — dumbbells, barbells and boxing gloves replenish the corners. The circle of relatives nonetheless scurries for chairs when visitors display up.
“This is all we have ever had,” mentioned Jai Bhagwan. “But there are no regrets. Giving up my career as the lone breadwinner was a big gamble, but luckily, Nitu has proved me right.”
The invoice messenger within the Haryana Assembly remains to be on depart with out pay, his circle of relatives now fully depending on Nitu’s prize cash. Thanks to Nitu, her more youthful sister is in a position to pursue her MBBS in Shimla and her brother is chasing his dream of turning into a shooter.
“She is the backbone of our family now, and not just financially. She is an inspiration to her siblings,” Jai Bhagwan added.
Nitu, although, isn’t given to such emotive musings. There are days when she does glance again, however most commonly, she prefers to seem forward. An afternoon prior to the largest bout of her profession — the World Championship last — she have been in a equivalent mode.
“It’s only nine minutes,” Nitu saved telling herself as she snuggled on her mattress, one night time clear of combating for the arena crown. A profession that started nearly by means of an coincidence 11 years again with a fortuitous consult with to the famed Bhiwani Boxing Club now lay looking forward to its best hour — or as Nitu would remind herself, 9 mins.
The World Championships last in opposition to Mongolia’s Lutsaikhan Altantseg led to a commanding unanimous win for Nitu, however the 24 hours main as much as that bout have been anything else however simple. The difficult semi-final in opposition to Kazakhstan’s Alua Balkibekova, whom she defeated 5-2 and who had punched her out of the World Championships remaining 12 months, had taken a toll on her thoughts and frame.
“That bout (semi-final) had taken a lot out of me. I lost to Balkibekova last year, so I watched a lot of her videos and came prepared. But she was still tough to get past,” recalled Nitu.
“For the final, I just wanted to go all guns blazing. I had watched videos of some of Altansetseg’s bouts and figured out my game plan. I kept repeating it in my head. I played that bout so many times in mind, the way I would walk into the ring, the way I would react, box, win, celebrate…I could even hear the national anthem. The next day, the bout panned out exactly how I had planned. It was surreal,” she mentioned. .
Still, when the instant did come, it was once not anything like Nitu had visualized or rehearsed. After preliminary jubilation, she broke into tears—a fruits of years of sweat and toil crystallized into a unique second of triumph.
“They say it takes a village to build a champion, and not without reason. My parents have sacrificed so much for me. There was a time when we didn’t have 100 to board a bus for a competition and we had to borrow money from the neighbours. When they hung the gold medal on me, all I could think was how far I have come.”
“I had worked really hard for that moment. Over the past year, I have started lifting more weights, gaining strength and muscle. I have changed as a boxer too; while earlier I was more of a counterpuncher, now I try to attack early . I give myself 15 seconds to analyze my opponent. After that, there’s no mercy.”
Ruthless as she might sound, outdoor the hoop, Nitu seems a some distance cry from her competitive boxing character. “You may have read of people who took up boxing because of some underlying angst and stuff. Nothing of that sort happened to me. I was drawn to boxing because that’s the only sport we play here. The colorful headgear and gloves attracted me at first , but soon that was overcome by the thrill of punching,” she mentioned.
It wasn’t a very easy upward push to the highest although. Back in her junior days, she could be tormented by means of Jyoti Gulia who beat her on the Haryana State Championships in 2013 and 2014, but even so overpowering her in a large number of follow bouts.
The turning level arrived in 2015 when Nitu in spite of everything had her revenge on the SAI Championships in Rohtak. “I remember when the draws were out, a friend of mine told her that I am again in the same group as Jyoti. I told her it will be a different result this time.”
“I do not believe I ever misplaced to Jyoti thereafter. That bout became my profession round. There are moments to your profession when issues simply fall into position. My world profession took form after that bout. Now that I’m the arena champion, I think I will pass forward and win an Olympic medal.”