The Indian Army's first woman boxer is now chasing Commonwealth gold

ByAnnesha Ghosh

Sports writer

The reigning 57kg satellite champion boxer Jaismine Lamboria from India throws punches for a living, but erstwhile it comes to handling pressure, she looks to 1 of her country's astir celebrated cricketing legends for inspiration.

"I truly respect MS Dhoni's mindset," says the soft-spoken Lamboria of the erstwhile Indian captain. "He is known arsenic 'Captain Cool' for a reason, and I privation to beryllium calm similar him."

That composure volition beryllium peculiarly invaluable for Lamboria implicit the coming days.

The 24-year-old is 1 of India's strongest boxing gold-medal prospects astatine the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, looking to amended connected the bronze she won astatine Birmingham 2022.

Coming disconnected a breakout 2025 during which she won World Cup golds successful Astana and Delhi earlier becoming satellite champion successful Liverpool, Lamboria is successful Glasgow with an uncomplicated ambition.

"I purpose to alteration the colour of that medal to gold," she says. "That's what I've been grooming and preparing towards."

At 5ft 8½in, Lamboria is gangly by Indian boxing standards. Her Olympic debut successful Paris ended successful a first-round decision to Tokyo metallic medallist Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines.

But the setback came successful the value people she had lone precocious returned to. After spending astir 3 years boxing astatine 60kg, Lamboria dropped backmost to 57kg during the Paris qualification run - a determination that yet paid disconnected erstwhile she won the satellite rubric by defeating Paris Olympic metallic medallist Julia Atena Szeremeta of Poland.

"That Paris 2024 Olympics exit was disappointing but it was an eye-opener," says Lamboria. "It prompted respective changes successful maine - physically and mentally. And a important portion of it has travel astir astatine the Army Sports Institute (ASI) successful Pune, which is wherever I train."

Lamboria credits her ASI coaches for improving his carnal spot and a motivational manager and sports scientist for sharpening her intelligence game.

The Indian Army, however, has provided the wider organization model astir overmuch of her development.

After winning bronze astatine the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Lamboria became the archetypal pistillate boxer inducted into the army, joining the Corps of Military Police. She present trains nether its Mission Olympics Wing.

"It's a large honour they wanted to statesman with me, but I besides spot it arsenic an accidental to go a relation exemplary for pistillate athletes," says Lamboria of joining a strategy that has produced Olympians and Paralympians, including Olympic javelin champion Neeraj Chopra.

In aboriginal 2024, the Indian Army launched the Girls Sports Company to bid girls aged 12 to 16 successful 4 Olympic sports, including boxing, creating a pathway to elite contention and service recruitment.

"These miss athletes are doing precise good too," says Lamboria. "One boxer has already won Asian Championships gold, which makes maine truly happy. I whitethorn person been the archetypal pistillate boxer successful the Indian Army, but I won't beryllium the last."

Lamboria's narration with boxing, however, began agelong earlier the service entered her story.

Born successful the bluish authorities of Haryana, she grew up successful Bhiwani, a metropolis synonymous with Indian boxing and wide nicknamed the country's 'Mini Cuba'.

Her great-grandfather Hawa Singh was 1 of Indian boxing's aboriginal giants. A heavyweight, helium won successive Asian Games golden medals successful 1966 and 1970 and was among those who established the famed Bhiwani Boxing Club, which would aboriginal nutrient boxers including Olympic medallist Vijender Singh.

Even so, it is not Hawa's medals that diagnostic astir prominently successful the stories Lamboria remembers proceeding astir him astatine home. "He was powerful, but determination was besides truthful overmuch humility successful him," she says.

Her earliest boxing influences were her uncles, Sandeep Singh and Parvinder Singh. "I grew up watching them compete," she says. "They were the ones who got maine started."

Lamboria began boxing earnestly astir the property of 14, grooming archetypal astatine an academy tally by Hawa's son, Sanjay Sheoran, earlier continuing nether her uncles.

Though the athletics ran done her extended family, Lamboria grew up successful a household of humble means. Her father, Jaiveer, works arsenic a location guard, portion her mother, Joginder, is simply a homemaker.

"Their enactment has been a large crushed wherefore I was the archetypal miss successful my contiguous household to instrumentality up athletics seriously," she says, "not slightest arsenic the youngest among the girls successful the family."

Her inspirations, meanwhile, widen good beyond her ain family.

Lamboria grew up idolising Olympic medallists MC Mary Kom and Vijender Singh. Later, she looked up to Indian Army boxers Amit Panghal and Manish Kaushik, Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, American swimming large Michael Phelps and Indian sprinting fable Milkha Singh.

Closer to home, she credits elder Indian boxers Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain and Pooja Rani, not conscionable for their medals but for the encouragement they connection younger athletes.

"When you look astatine them, you people consciousness that you privation to bash what they person done," she says.

Now, Lamboria is opening to inhabit that relation herself.

"For a agelong time, boxing has been seen arsenic a male-dominated sport," she says. "Being a pistillate boxer and an Army athlete, it means a batch to vie connected the satellite stage, beryllium myself and animate others done my performances."

That alteration is reflected successful the Commonwealth Games too. Boxing has been portion of the lawsuit since 1930, but women's contention was introduced lone successful 2014. In Glasgow, bouts statesman connected 24 July, with the finals connected 31 July and 1 August.

After winning bronze successful Birmingham 4 years ago, Lamboria hopes to permission Glasgow with gold.

"When you're competing overseas and the nationalist anthem plays, it's a wholly antithetic feeling," she says.

"I experienced that astatine the World Championships successful Liverpool past year. That's the infinitesimal I privation to recreate here."