Maisnam Meena Kumari had to stay away from her family for almost eight months between 2013 and ‘14 as she tried to prove that their decision to support her quest for making a career in boxing wasn’t a lost cause.
During that period, the Manipur pugilist shifted her base to far away Thiruvananthapuram to train at the Sports Authority of India center there.
Meena Kumari still remembers that day when she smashed her phone on a wall during the National Camp in Bhopal after her parents refused to fund her any further, and questioned her future. To her credit, she channeled that frustration into proving that she had the ability to break into the top league. On Monday, she became only the second Indian woman boxer to win a gold medal at the prestigious Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Meena Kumari, who had bagged a bronze medal in the last edition of the competition, fought hard to earn a 3-2 victory against Aira Villegas of the Philippines in the bantamweight (54kg) category.
“In the first round, my coach told me that I was doing well and that I had the lead. But in the second round he said I was trailing, and that scared me. I pushed myself at the end to get the win – I never doubted myself,” she told Scroll.in.
This belief is what has carried Meena Kumari so far. She decided to make a career in boxing following a coaching camp by Dronacharya Award-winning coach L Ibomcha Singh in her home town Sugnu, which is approximately 65 km from Manipur capital Imphal.
“I had heard of Dingko Singh [Padma Shri and former Asian Games gold medallist]. But nobody in my family was ever interested in boxing. I used to play with boys my age all the time, and developed a habit of fighting with them,” she recalled.
“At that time, I didn’t really know what boxing was. Each year in my village, we used to play a lot of games during the festival of Holi. One time, Ibomcha sir conducted a workshop where he explained what boxing was all about. After Holi that year, I was hooked on to the sport,” she added.
Initially, Meena Kumari’s parents were her biggest supporters as she tried to make a mark in the extremely competitive 48-51kg category. But with results not really going her way, they decided to read the riot act to her. “They asked me what the sport had given me. I didn’t even have a job at that time, and they reckoned there was no point in going on like that,” she said.
The 29-year-old found support from fellow boxer L Sarita Devi and coach D Chandralal, who even lent her money to reach Thiruvananthapuram.
She finally managed to turn the tide in 2014, when she won the first of her three senior National Championship titles, and reclaimed the support of her parents. The Central Industrial Security Force recruited her a year later and she has only gone from strength to strength in the last four years, winning an Asian Championships bronze medal along the way.
Since the 54 kg category is not part of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Meena Kumari now wants to move one weight category up to 57 kg. “I take every competition head-on and work hard to succeed. My goal is to do well at the 2020 Olympics, win a medal for the country. I’m competing in the 54 kg category right now, but I want to get up to 57 kg. I’m going to give myself the best shot to win a medal in Tokyo.”