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'Will do everything to change colour to gold,' says World boxing Champion silver medalist Manju Rani

Manju Rani made a brilliant debut campaign at the Women’s World Boxing Championships. The young Indian boxer ended her campaign with a silver medal after losing the light flyweight (48kg) final to Russia's Ekaterina Paltceva.

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Manju Rani made a brilliant debut campaign at the Women’s World Boxing Championships. The young Indian boxer ended her campaign with a silver medal after losing the light flyweight (48kg) final to Russia's Ekaterina Paltceva.

Having missed out on the gold medal, Manju told Hindustan Times, “I still have a few shortcomings and I plan to work on them. I have won a silver medal at Worlds, and next time I will do everything to change the colour to gold”.

Rani - who used to play kabaddi - had set her eyes at the Olympics taking inspiration from Vijender Singh and Mary Kom.

“I used to watch boxing matches of Mary Kom and Vijender Singh. Boxing is an individual and defensive sport so I developed an interest in it. My uncle Sahab Singh Narwal advised me that I should take it up as a career. He was a kabaddi coach. So he would learn boxing tactics and then teach me. Slowly, I started growing in the sport,” Rani told Hindustan Times.

“I had not won a single medal for so many years. And in a short span of time, when you win so much... it is hard to describe how happy I feel. I feel proud of this achievement. My family members are equally happy,” she said.

In the first round of the World Championship, Rani defeated Venezuela’s Rojas Tayonis Cedeno 5-0  and then stunned top-ranked North Korean Kim Hyang Mi 4-1 to enter the quarter-finals.

She went on to defeat Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat 4-1 to make it to the final, where she lost to Russia’s Ekaterina Paltceva 1-4.

“I was a little worried during my fight against the top-seeded North Korean boxer. I knew it would be a tough challenge. But I kept a cool head. The coaches told me what to do and how to face the challenge,” the 19-year-old told Hindustan Times.

“My mother was watching my bouts live. After I defeated the top-ranked boxer, she had tears in her eyes. She felt all my hard work has finally paid off.”

Rani even spoke of how she had even come to a point where she thought of giving up boxing. Losing her father, a BSF jawan, back in 2010 came as a big blow to the family who were already facing financial constraints. 

She said that people back in her village Rithal in Rohtak district of Haryana, warned her not to take up the sport, but her mother Ishwati Devi was a constant support.

“My mother always stood behind me. From my diet to training schedule, my mother managed everything. She never let me feel upset about not having a father or never let me worry about financial constraints,” she said.

However, despite giving good performances she was not picked up for the state team. “I almost made up my mind to quit boxing. My uncle and coach motivated me. He paid all my expenses. I started staying with him (in Rohtak). He got me admission in Lovely Professional University in Punjab, which gave me a new platform and redeveloped my career,” she told Hindustan Times.

In 2017, Manju switched to Punjab and went on to win Nationals in January, and then followed it up with a silver at the Strandja Memorial in February. In May, she won bronze in the Thailand Open and followed it up with another bronze at the India Open.

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