The 26th of March will go down as a special day for women’s sports in India. It was the day that Mumbai Indians, led by India’s captain Harmanpreet Singh, won the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL), defeating Delhi Capitals in front of a packed house at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. When was the last time you heard of a full stadium for a women’s cricket game in India? The WPL, at last count, had also breached 50 million views on TV — not counting digital views — according to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).
The WPL has the potential to, in one clean sweep, do what decades of different initiatives have not been able to do — make women’s cricket a robust, successful sport with a healthy financial and competitive ecosystem. The most important aspect of that, of course, is that it will inspire young girls across the country to embrace cricket in a way that has never happened before. The first edition of the WPL has already delivered an exquisitely uplifting story — the purple cap winner (highest wicket-taker) went to Mumbai Indians’ Saika Ishaque, who grew up in a Kolkata slum, lost her father in 2018, and struggled to make a career out of cricket after a shoulder injury left her out of the game till 2020. Her career has gone from anxiety-filled days in empty grounds wondering where her pay-cheque will come from and if she will ever realise the dream of being an accomplished cricketer, to becoming a star lifting a major trophy in the space of a few months.
While the WPL final was going on in Mumbai, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium was filled to the rafters with screaming fans cheering on the boxers Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain in the finals of the Women’s World Boxing Championships.
Both women won their fights, making it a record-equalling four gold medals for Indian women at the world championships. This, again, is the beginning of an era. Women’s boxing in India found few takers despite MC Mary Kom’s five world titles. Till 2012, when women’s boxing was finally introduced at the Olympics, it was a struggle even for Mary to find the funds and resources she needed, so you can imagine the state at more prosaic levels. There was barely a system in place for women’s boxing, whether at elite or grassroots levels, and there was the added struggle of social opposition to women picking up fighting sports. Mary’s Olympic medal — and a subsequent sixth world title — belatedly made her a legend in her own country and inspired a new wave of girls to brave social opposition and lack of opportunities to pick up the sport.
Nikhat Zareen (left) with Mary Kom. (Photo: Twitter)
That generation has delivered their first major hit. India had four boxers in the final, and all four won. The last and only time this happened was in 2006 (Mary Kom was one of the winners). That championship too was in Delhi. Which brings us to a caveat. Amateur boxing has a legitimacy problem. Host nations almost always end up at the top of the medal table with a disproportionate number of medals. In 2022, when the championship was in Istanbul, Turkey won seven gold medals to top the table. This year, despite fielding boxers in all 12 weight categories, they have none.
In 2019 (2020 and 2021 saw no championships because of the pandemic), Russia topped the table while hosting the event, even though they had won just one bronze in the previous year. Unless you have a particularly weak team, like India did in 2018, when they hosted and finished third on the table with four bronze medals, you are bound to have results go your way. Is this a problem of corrupt judges or the happy result of home support?
The International Olympic Council’s investigations suggest it’s the former, which is why the International Boxing Federation stands derecognised by the IOC since 2019. Results at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, among many other events, have come under intense scrutiny for allegations of biased judging, referees and judges have been handed bans, and the IOC has taken direct control of boxing at the Olympics, which means the IBA had no part to play either at the Olympics or in its qualification tournaments for both Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
Were the four gold medals for India undeserved then? Having watched the fights at the stadium as well as replays later on TV, some doubts remain, but that is not really the point. The point is that the International Boxing Association (IBA) and even the International Olympic Committee (IOC) must take steps to shift the overwhelming perception that amateur boxing is run by corrupt officials whose fairness is in question.
As for the India’s champions — Nitu Ghangas in 48 kg, Nikhat Zareen in 50 kg, Lovlina Borgohain in 75 kg and Saweety Boora in 81 kg — while there may be questions raised about their gold medal win, since all four finals were closely fought and the decisions, especially in 75 kg and 81 kg categories, could have gone either way, there is no doubt that they are fighters of the highest calibre who belong at the top of their categories.
Nitu is an out-and-out brawler in the mould of Mary Kom, whose gentle demeanour belies the beast she becomes in the ring. She is full of grit and fighting spirit, and has plenty of technique and speed. Since 48 kg is not in the Olympic programme, expect the Commonwealth and now world champion to shift up in weight and possibly give stiff competition to the finest boxer in India right now, Nikhat.
The 26-year-old from Telangana, who became the first Indian after Mary Kom to defend a world title, is India’s best shot at an Olympic medal. She has the technique to back her speed, and she is also one of the strongest boxers at her weight. She can fight from middle or long range, has a solid defence, and a mean hook. Unlike Mary, Nikhat and the rest of the Indian team has the support and coaching system they need in place. A keen learner and a fierce competitor, Nikhat is bound to improve and add new skills to her repertoire by the time Paris 2024 comes around.
Lovlina has been steadily collecting the big medals — a bronze at the 2018 Worlds, another in 2019, before the Tokyo Olympics bronze that made her a household name, and now she has gone all the way and become the world champion. While there may be questions about her win in the final against Australia’s Caitlin Parker (the Aussie looked marginally more in control), there is no doubting the way Lovlina dismantled the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, Qian Li of China, in the semi-finals. That win alone makes the powerful and agile boxer from Assam a top contender at Paris 2024.
Saweety Boora is not gifted with technique, but she somehow makes up for that with a larger-than-life heart that knows only to attack and keep attacking, no matter what the odds. It takes her far.
To come back to the original point — here’s a bunch of athletes who have become icons for women’s boxing in India, who are building on Mary Kom’s legacy, and who have surely lit fire to the dreams of thousands of young girls who love boxing. This is how the future is built.
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