World Boxing Championships: Manju Rani settles for silver medal

NEW DELHI: Debutant Manju Rani (48kg) settled for a silver medal at the World Women's Boxing Championships after losing 1-4 against second-seeded Russian Ekaterina Paltceva in the summit clash at Ulan-Ude, Russia, on Sunday.


Seeded sixth, Manju defeated Thailand's Chuthamat Raksat 4-1 in her semifinal bout.

Earlier in May, Rani had lost to the same opponent in Thailand Open.

Manju took to boxing at the age of 12 in 2010 after the death of her father Bhim Sen, a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan who succumbed to stomach cancer. The loss of her father led to anger issues and her family encouraged Manju to take up boxing to vent her frustration. It soon became a passion and then her mission in life. She wanted to be the best in the world.

When Manju left for Russia, she was a bit apprehensive as it was her first world championship. But she found the strength and confidence to get into the final.

Manju's journey from Haryana to Russia via Punjab had seen enough turbulence for the youngster to be a little anxious. She had started with almost nothing. All she had was a pair of borrowed gloves, a salwar kameez to train in and wornout shoes. Her training ground was an open space near a pond between two villages Rithal and Rurki of Rohtak district in Haryana

It has been an amazing year for Manju. In January, she won gold medal at the senior national boxing championship in Vijayanagar in her maiden attempt. Then came a silver at the 70th Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria, her maiden international outing. She went on to bag bronze medals in the India Open and Thailand Open.

A never-say-die spirit helped Manju overcome the financial constraints after her father's death. Her mother Ishwanti Devi raised her five kids - four daughters and a son - on the meagre pension of her late husband, a mere Rs 8,000 per month.

Manju had other battles to conquer besides her poverty - most significantly the dirty politics afflicting state associations. She was overlooked two straight years for the Rohtak district team. Manju was devastated but fought back with help of Sube Singh Beniwal, a boxing coach in Rohtak.

He helped her secure admission in Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, and she moved to Punjab, a state she represents now.

Manju got admission after her first trial. her mother was ready to mortgage her jewellery to fund her training and education but the university decided to give her 100 per cent scholarship, including free accommodation, after watching her box in the ring.

Before Beniwal, Manju was lucky to run into Sahab Singh who trained 40 boxers near the pond in Rithal.