As a teen, Manisha Moun would accompany her elder brother to the volleyball floor on the RKSD College Stadium in Kaithal with out telling dad Krishan Moun. While her father solely knew about her training judo on the venue aside from taking part in volleyball, Manisha can be coaching below boxing coach Rajinder Singh.
It was round this time that Krishan suffered the primary of his coronary heart assaults and the farmer-cum-tractor mechanic needed to fear in regards to the medical bills aside from the wants of his three youngsters.
Those powerful instances have been recalled on Monday when 24-year-old Manisha secured her maiden world championship medal with a 4:1 cut up determination win over Mongolia’s Namuun Mankhor within the 57 Kg class on the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in Istanbul, Turkey.
“Our family wanted Manisha to go outside so she would often accompany her brother to the volleyball stadium. But we did not know that she was approached by coach Rajinder Singh, who got her enrolled into boxing. When she became district champion within two years, we got to know about her feat, and I praised her in front of all my relatives and neighbors. So far, she has won more than 40 medals but this one, whatever color she brings home, will be special for us. She told me that a medal in Turkey will be no less than an Olympics for us and I am glad that she has proved herself,” an emotional Krishan informed The Indian Express.
2️⃣nd medal confirmed !
Way to go, Manisha !
Enjoy the glimpses!👇😍 #BoxingIstanbul#PunchMeinHaiDum #boxing pic.twitter.com/w4iiwvM1y6
— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) May 16, 2022
While her father owned a 1.5-acre farm aside from working as a tractor mechanic in his village, Manisha’s curiosity in boxing meant that the household needed to search for funds to assist her coaching. While a younger Manisha would typically convey some prize cash from native boxing tournaments to mom Usha Rani, the household confronted a troublesome time in these years when Krishan suffered his first coronary heart assault and spent greater than a month on the PGIMER in Chandigarh. “She was a toddler at the moment and wouldn’t perceive my situation. She would inform us that she goes to coaching however would all the time ask her mom about my well being. Whatever prize cash she gained, she would give to her mom,” remembers Krishan.
Coach Gurmeet Singh, a trainee of Rajinder Singh, who has been coaching Manisha since 2014 remembers her early days in boxing. “Is ladki main zunoon hai kuch seekhne ka (This girl has the passion to learn). At that time, we had fewer female boxers at the academy and would train her with boys. It also meant that she would take part in cross-country runs every week in which she would finish in the top three in the 21-km country run. It helped her build stamina and she maintains the habit of running cross-country events even now. She has always been a fan of 2006 Commonwealth Games champion Akhil Kumar and her left punch is just like Akhil with a bit of an open guard,” says Singh.
BRILLIANT MANISHA!
#Manisha (57kg) gave a sturdy reply to stave of a stiff problem from ‘s Monkhor and confirmed 2️⃣nd medal for on the #IBAWWC2022 ,
Well executed, champ!#PunchMeinHaiDum #boxing #IstanbulBoxing pic.twitter.com/aETo9s11jB
— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) May 16, 2022
Steady progress
A silver on the junior Haryana boxing championships in 2013 was adopted by successive All India Inter-University titles in 2016 and 2017 earlier than Manisha gained three worldwide medals in 2018. It was the 12 months when she would win the trials for the 2018 World Championships in Delhi , the place she would attain the quarter-finals earlier than dropping to 2016 world championship silver medalist Stoyko Petrova of Bulgaria. During her marketing campaign, Manisha would rating wins over two-time world championship medalist Christina Cruz of USA and 2017 world champion Dina Zhalaman of Kazakhstan. She would win a bronze on the Asian Boxing Championships in 2019.
Manisha throughout her quarterfinals. (Credit: BFI)
Then got here the setback of an elbow damage in 2019 earlier than she determined to shift to the 57 Kg class, the place she would compete in opposition to the likes of former world youth champion Sakshi Chaudhary, former world medalist Sonia Lather and Sonia Chahal. “She would start her career in the 50 kg category and once she felt confident, she chose 54 Kg as her best weight. The 2018 Nationals silver medal gave her confidence ahead of the world championship trials in 2018 and she could have won a medal in Delhi. She often watches videos of her bouts against Christina and Dina and would observe her mistakes during the rehabilitation period after her elbow injury. When she was dropped from the TOPS scheme recently, she was a bit disappointed as her family’s financial condition is not that good but this medal will hopefully ensure that she gets back into the scheme,” says coach Sarabjit Kaur, who has been in a number of nationwide camps with Manisha.
The pugilist will now face Irma Testa of Italy within the World Championship semi-finals and her father shall be watching the bout with the household at their village. “Sometimes, I would spend extra hours at the tractor shop to earn more money even though Manisha would often ask me to come home early. But then we had loans to repay. She always hands her prize money to me or her mother till now but for us the biggest prize is her medals. The only thing she is fond of while at home is cleaning the house and making space for her medals. This medal will be the brightest of all of her medals till date,” her father says.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
