Nitu Ghanghas made the nation proud on Saturday by clinching a historical gold medal for Indian in 48 kg category in the World Boxing Championship at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi. Nitu opened India's gold medal account after routing Altantsetseg Lutsaikhan of Mongolia 5-0 in the final clash via a unanimous decision.
But the road to glory was full of thorns for the 22-year-old who fought all odds to earn this grand triumph at the international stage. In an exclusive interview with Sports Tak, Nitu opened up on her struggles which defined her success.
"There have been a lot of financial problems in my life. There were times when I had no money to travel by bus from my village to Bhiwani to train for boxing. However, these difficulties only made me so strong and propelled me to earn this glory," Nitu told Sports Tak.
Nitu was effusive in thanking her father who made a lot of sacrifices to help her daughter shimmer at the international stage. She said that her father took an unpaid leave of three years to take care of me. He used to work in Haryana Legislative Assembly and took the break, so that her daughter can only focus on my game and the results followed.
“The path that I tread to clinch this coveted gold medal at the Boxing World Championship was full of turbulence. My father supported me throughout my boxing career so far. He had to leave his job. He took an unpaid leave of three years to take care of me. I would like to thank my father and my entire family for all their sacrifices and for making me capable of winning gold medal for India,” Nitu added.
Nitu is only the sixth Indian pugilists (male or female) to become a world champion. Two-time World Youth champion Nitu dominated Altantsetseg 5-0 in the first round but was handed a 3-2 warning in the second. She won the third round well to beat the two-time Asian Championships bronze medallist Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg in the summit clash. The 22-year-old Indian, who is a 2022 Commonwealth Games champion, competed in her second World Championships and has had a stellar campaign so far, recording three victories by Referee Stops Contest (RSC) verdicts. Earlier, Nitu eked out a 5-2 victory over Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan in the semifinal clash.
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