Boxer Nupur Sheoran carrying on grandfather Hawa Singh's legacy

Born into a family of renowned pugilists Nupur Sheoran was not bitten by the boxing bug in her early years as she preferred playing with puppies over sparring in the ringBut a defeat in a sub junior state meet changed the course of her life as she finally looked to make a career out of the sport which her legendary grandfather captain Hawa Singh once dominatedThe late Hawa Singh reigned supreme across Asia in the 1960s and early 70s and decades later Nupur is carrying forward his legacy in the amateur boxing circuitEach time Nupur enters the boxing ring she carries with her the burden of expectation that comes with being a third generation boxer Her father Sanjay Kumar is also multipletime national championPressure toh saath mei hi chalta hai Pressure is always there says the affable Nupur who is competing in the 81kg category at the ongoing Womens World Championships hereSports runs in Nupurs blood as her mother Mukesh Rani is an Asian Championships medallist basketball player So one would think Nupur would have been inclined towards sports since her childhood daysAfter all she grew up listening to tales of her twotime Asian Games gold medallist grandfather who won 11 successive national heavyweight titles between 1961 and 1972He is the only Indian boxer to have won backtoback Asian Games titles in 1966 and 1970But the selfconfessed shy girl would only visit the Captain Hawa Singh Boxing Academy started by her father to play with the puppies thereMy father has an academy and he used to train children who were financially week I have been seeing that since my childhood there used to be around 3035 kidsI was good in studies and the only reason I would go to the academy was to play with the puppies over there the eloquent pugilist told PTIAlso Read Nikhat Zareen off to flying start cruises to World Boxing Championships second roundNupur was around two when her grandfather died and she only has faint memories of him but what she remembers clearly is his Bhim AwardI used to keep asking my mom about the Arjuna Award what it is And we used to keep playing with the Gadda of the Bhim Award recklesslyNupur halfheartedly competed in her first boxing tournament the Haryana sub junior state tournament when she was in schoolI was in 10th when I played my first tournament My father called my mother and asked does Nupur want to play I went in my school uniform for my weighing inI had my first fight with the subjunior national champion and I beat her via RSC referee stops contest in the first round So I thought wow boxing is very easyIt was only after she tasted her first defeat in the ring a few years later that she realised that boxing is what she wanted to doWhen I played my first serious tournament in university and lost for the first time I knew I wanted to really pursue boxingI went to my father and told him I want to do this will you please teach me The next two years was hell My dad used to be so angry because I was very lazyShe won the gold at the 2015 Youth Nationals and the 2018 All IndiaUniversity Boxing Tournament In 2019 she competed in her maiden international eventWith India hosting the World Championships nothing could stop the strongwilled Nupur from being a part of it not even a ligament injuryLast October I tore the ligament in my ankle during training I was doing footwoork and twisted my ankleI was on bed rest for two months and started training 20 days before the NationalsBut because of the World Championship I knew I wanted to compete in the nationalsThe Bhiwani boxer who wasnt 100 per cent fit went on to win the goldHer next target is a medal at the World Championship in which she started her campaign on a dominating note beating Guyanas Abiola Jackman 50This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever