How Sakshi Chaudhary became first Indian woman to win World Boxing Cup gold

Sakshi Chaudhary’s gold at the World Boxing Cup in Astana set the tone for India’s remarkable medal haul last week.

On the same day, two other female boxers – Jasmine Lamboria (57kg) and Nupur Sheoran (80+kg) – also bagged golds to take India’s medals tally to 11 medals.

Sakshi’s consistent performance throughout the tournament, winning all her bouts by a unanimous decision, set her apart.

“It was a very good experience. Everyone at home waited for my matches. The national anthem played and the Indian flag went up. It was a proud moment,” Sakshi Chaudhary told The Bridge on Tuesday.

“I didn’t think about winning or losing. I thought I would give 100 percent in my game. I focused on playing my game. In my weight category, there were a lot of Olympians and Olympic medalists. But, I won all my bouts 5-0 and won the gold medal,” she added.

Sakshi started her campaign with a 5-0 win over Charley Davison, a two-time Olympian from England.

"She was a very experienced boxer and I played with my strategy and used my jab and footwork to beat her 5-0,” the Indian pugilist oozed confidence.

In the quarterfinal, Sakshi beat a famous boxer from Brazil – Tatiana Chagas – who competed at the Paris Olympics by another 5-0 result.

In the semifinal, Sakshi again dominated her opponent, Uzbekistan’s Feruza Kazakova.

“My second bout was with an Olympian from Brazil Tatiana Chagas. She couldn’t find space to fit in my strategy and I won 5-0. In the semifinal, I beat Uzbekistan’s Feruza Kazakova who had defeated an Olympic medalist in the quarterfinals. She is an Olympian herself. She had a very good game. But I dominated again, played to my strategy and performed well. I won the bout 5-0,” she said.

Sakshi beat USA’s Yosline Perez 5-0 in the final. Perez is the 2022 Youth World Championships gold medalist and a silver in Astana was her third international medal of the year.

Who is Sakshi Chaudhary?

Sakshi hails from Bhiwani, the hub of Indian boxing. Her father introduced her to the sport taking inspiration from Vijender Singh’s bronze-winning performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She started training under Jagdish Singh, a renowned coach who trained Vijender Singh, in 2012.

“I had a very mischievous childhood. I used to pick up fights and hit anyone. My parents thought of channelising my energy and introduced me to boxing in 2012. There was a very positive environment for boxing after Vinejder's medal, a lot of craze for the sport,” she asserted.

“My first tournament was school nationals in November 2014. There was no federation at that time,” Sakshi, who idiolises Vijender, said.

Over the years Sakshi has established herself as one of the strong emerging talents in Indian boxing. She is a 2015 junior World Championship and two-time youth World Championship gold medalist.

The 24-year-old was part of the national camp in National Institute of Sports, Patiala and is currently serving as a havaldar in the Indian Army.

She has taken two days off from training to spend some quality time with her family in Bhiwani before she rejoins the national camp with her sights set at the World Championships, which will be held in England in September this year.