Boxer Nupur Sheoran carrying on grandfather Hawa Singh’s legacy
New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) Born into a family of legendary boxers, Nupur Sheoran not bitten by the boxing bug in his early years as he preferred playing with puppies to sparring in the ring.
But a failure in a university tournament changed the course of his career and he finally tried to make a career out of the sport that his legendary grandfather, Captain Hawa Singh, had once dominated.
The late Hawa Singh reigned supreme across Asia in the 1960s and early 70s, and decades later, Nupur continues his legacy in the amateur boxing circuit.
Every time Nupur steps into the ring, she carries with her the weight of expectation that comes with being a third-generation boxer. His father Sanjay Kumar is also a multiple time national champion.
“Pressure toh saath mei hi chalta hai ( (The pressure is always there),” says Nupur, who will compete in the +81kg category at the ongoing Women’s World Championships here.
Nupur’s mother, Mukesh Rani, is an Asian Championship medalist basketball player, so sports runs in her blood. Hence, it can be assumed that Nupur would have had a penchant for sports since his childhood.
After all, he grew up hearing stories of his two-time Asian Games gold medalist grandfather, who won 11 consecutive national heavyweight titles between 1961 and 1972.
He is the only Indian boxer to win back-to-back titles at the Asian Games in 1966 and 1970.
But the self-confessed “shy girl” would only come to Captain Hawa Singh Boxing Academy, started by her father, to play with the puppies there.
“My father has an academy and he economically trains children during the week. I see around 30-35 children from my childhood.
“I was good in studies and the only reason I went to the academy was to play with the puppies there,” the spokesperson told PTI.
Nupur was two years old when her grandfather died and she has only vague memories of him, but what she clearly remembers is his Bhim award.
“I kept asking my mother about the Arjuna Award, what it was, and we recklessly played with the Bhim Award’s Gadda .”
Nupur half-heartedly participated in his first boxing match — the Haryana sub-junior state tournament when he was still in school.
“When I played my first match, I was ranked 10. My father called my mother and said, ‘Nupur, do you want to play?’
“I had my first fight with the sub-junior national champion and beat her in the first round by RSC (stoppage contest). So I thought, ‘Wow boxing is so easy’.”
It was only after tasting her first defeat in the ring a few years later that she realized boxing was what she was meant to do.
“When I played my first serious match at university and lost for the first time, I knew I really wanted to pursue boxing.
“I went to my father and said ‘I want to do this, will you please teach me?’
He won gold at the 2015 Youth Nationals and the 2018 All India-University Boxing Championships. In 2019, he competed in his first international tournament.
With India hosting the World Championship, nothing can stop the strong-willed Nupur from being a part of it — not even a hamstring injury.
“Last October, I tore a ligament in my ankle during training. I was doing footwork and twisted my ankle.
“I was on bed rest for two months and started training 20 days before nationals.
“But I knew I wanted to compete (at nationals) because of the world championships.”
A Bhiwani boxer who was not 100 per cent fit won gold.
Her next target was a medal at the World Championships, where she opened her campaign with a dominant 5-0 thrashing of Guyana’s Abiola Jackman.
