50 years after Hawa Singh’s last Asiad medal, boxer Jaismine Lamboriya completes her late great grand-uncle’s ambition of going to Olympics

Growing up at her home near Haluwas Gate in Bhiwani, a young Jaismine Lamboriya often heard tales about two-time Asian Games boxing champion, late Captain Hawa Singh. He was her paternal grand-aunt’s uncle and kids in the family often took pride in his legacy.

While Singh became the heavyweight champion in 1966 and 1970 Asian Games apart from winning a silver in 1974, he could not represent India at Olympics. Fifty years on, Jaismine has ensured that a bright woman from his clan will go to the Olympics after the 23-year-old Haryana pugilist sealed India’s sixth Paris Olympics quota with a unanimous 5:0 win over Marine Camara of Mali in the World Boxing Qualifier in Thailand on Sunday evening.

“While my father Captain Hawa Singh was a two-time Asian Games champion, he did not get a chance to qualify for the Olympics in his boxing career. Jaismine was not even born when he died but he would have been glad that someone from his extended family is going to wear the Indian jersey in the Olympics and do the Indian flag proud,” said coach Sanjay Singh, son of Capt Hawa Singh, while speaking with The Indian Express from Bhiwani.

“Hamari chhori Olympics mein bhi lathi gadh ke ayegi aur medal jeetegi (Our girl will do India proud in Olympics and win the medal there too),“ Sanjay added.

While the Lamboriyas lived as a joint family in Bhiwani, Jaismine’s father Jaiveer’s initial thoughts were to make his daughter study. But with him having two elder daughters and early death of an infant son, Singh and his wife Joginder Kaur wanted Jaismine to pursue whatever she liked. Dancing as well as volleyball with the village kids kept a young Jaismine occupied apart from her love for computers. It was not until 2016 that the youngster tried her hand at boxing.

Jaismine's reaction after securing the 57kg quota 🎥#PunchMeinHaiDum#2ndOlympicBoxingQualifiers#Boxing pic.twitter.com/fV3CI9yMmW

— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) June 2, 2024

It was on her uncles Parvinder and Sandeep’s insistence that the youngster started boxing. “My husband used to earn Rs 9,000 per month at that time and we could not have thought of supporting Jaismine in any sport. Initially my father-in-law was also reluctant to send her for boxing but when my husband’s cousins Parvinder and Sandeep insisted, he agreed and Jaismine’s journey as a boxer began,” shares mother Joginder.

Brothers Parvinder and Sandeep had spent time with Capt Hawa Singh, their mother’s maternal uncle, at his village of Umarwas in Bhiwani in their youth. They took a young Jaismine to the famous Bheem Stadium in Bhiwani before they set up their own boxing academy at a local school. “I remember seeing his medals at the village home and sometimes, we would roam around wearing his medals,” recalls Sandeep. “He would have been glad to see young kids wanting to become boxers. And that’s what we wanted Jaismine to be. Parvinder is a three-time national champion in 75kg category and had missed winning the bronze in 2006 CWG. I had represented India in the Youth Commonwealth Games. As a child, Jaismine had the advantage of height and both of us knew that she would do well in boxing. Sometimes, we would make her train for extra hours but her mother or her would never complain.”

Jaismine Lamboriya with uncles Sandeep Lamboriya (left) and Parvinder Lamboriya.

The next four years would see Jaismine pick a bronze in Asian Youth Championship in Mongolia. “Jaismine was a natural southpaw. She had long arms and we just had to work on getting her to understand the kind of angles and combination of punches for a southpaw boxer. Slowly, she developed a strong left hook and she would also work on her right hook to use it as a surprise,” says Sandeep.

Months after she won her first senior medal with a silver medal in Boxam International in Spain in 2021, the youngster was down with Covid-19. It was an anxious time for the Lamboriya family but the boxer recovered and won bronze in the Asian Championships the same year. A win over Tokyo Olympian Simranjeet Kaur in the trials meant that she was in the Indian team for the worlds in Istanbul. A quarter-final loss in Istanbul was followed by a bronze in Birmingham CWG in the 60kg category. Last year, she again reached the quarter-finals at World Championships in Delhi. “When she used to compete in 57 kg as a junior and youth boxer, she had the advantage of her 5 feet 9 inches height. It also helped her in the 60 kg and we worked on getting her more strength. Even though she had the height, she preferred straight punches over the chest area and she showed that today against Camara, who was going up and down,” says Sandeep.

After becoming the national champion in 60 kg, Jaismine competed in the first World Boxing qualifier in Italy in March early this year, where she lost to Japan’s Ayeka Taguchi in the first round. But it was the sudden decision to shift categories in recent days which led her to winning the quota in 57 kg in Thailand. With Asian Games bronze medallist Parveen Hooda, who had bagged the Paris Olympics quota in Hangzhou, suffering a suspension by International Testing Agency (ITA) and India surrendering the quota, Jaismine, a reserve in 60 kg, was chosen by Boxing Federation of India five days before the start of world qualifiers in Thailand. It was a race for the coach and the youngster to make weight.

“Jaismine fought in 57 kg at junior and youth level. So she understands the need for more speed in this weight. In 2022, she had suffered a shoulder injury as well as typhoid. So we went easy with her training. Her normal weight remained close to 60kg so we had to make her lose weight. Her diet was cut to half along with some extra running outdoors in Bhiwani amid high temperatures. Once she was able to do that, we worked on her speed and agility apart from some strength training sessions. Post her return, the focus will be on adding more speed coupled with her height advantage in this category,” says Sandeep.

The CWG bronze also meant that Jaismine was recruited as a Havildar with the Military Police Corps. Father Jaiveer Singh, who still works as a homeguard, is eagerly waiting for his daughter’s return. “Weight or no weight, she loves churma. And during these days, she had even left that. Perhaps she can have churma for a couple of days before going back to the camp,” he says.

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