Women’s Boxing Nationals: After mulling retirement, Simranjit Kaur back in the ring and one win away from title | Sport-others News

Tokyo Olympian boxer Simranjit Kaur is back in the boxing ring after nine months break, after contemplating giving up the sport when she was overlooked for last year’s Paris Olympics.The 29-year-old went to the previous Tokyo Olympics, but when a younger boxer, Jaismine Lamboria went to the French capital in the women’s 57kg category, Simranjit was left disappointed.
“I took a break because I was disheartened due to lack of chances. When I didn’t make the cut for the Paris Olympics qualifiers, I thought of giving up the sport,” Simranjit told The Indian Express on the sidelines of the ongoing women’s nationals.
Story continues below this ad

Break from boxing
Simranjit was part of the national camp for both the 2022 Asian Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, Jaismine was picked for the continental mega event, which served as qualifiers for the latter.
“When Jaismine didn’t qualify for Olympics through the Asian Games, I expected that my name would come up for the subsequent qualifiers but that was not to be,” rued Simran.
For the Paris Olympics cycle, Boxing Federation of India (BFI) had introduced a new selection process that included assessment throughout the national camp on different parameters under the supervision of then High Performance Director (HPD) Bernard Dunne. The method invited criticism from prominent pugils like Amit Panghal as well as several court cases.
“In a country like India, the assessment system doesn’t work as we have multiple boxers in the same category vying for one spot. It is better suited to countries where every category has just one or two boxers,” Simran argued.Story continues below this ad
“We need good sparring partners at the national camp. We can’t do with just two boxers preparing for a tournament like the Olympics.”
The two-time Asian Championships medall also felt that in India, younger boxers are usually preferred over experienced ones.
“If you look at the World Championships medal tally, there are multiple World Champions in the 27-32 age group, but in India, once you cross that age, it is assumed that the athlete is old,” Simran said.
The 2018 World Championship bronze medall hasn’t featured in any international tournament after the 2023 Strandja Cup in Bulgaria despite being in the national camp.Story continues below this ad
Comeback with hope
After losing to Jaismine in a close bout at the 2023 Nationals and missing out on a Paris Olympics berth, Simran took a break from the sport.
“It was difficult for me to stay away from the sport for this long but I needed the break. There was no camp, no international tournament, so I kept myself away for sometime,” she said.
She made a comeback at the recent National Games in Uttarakhand,
“I competed without much preparation. My body was a little rusty but I still managed a good result,” Simran said.Story continues below this ad
That was a bronze medal but she has shown improvement at the ongoing Nationals, defeating Sonu of All India Police to reach the final in her category.
Simran will face Neeraj Phogat of Haryana in the lightweight category final on Thursday at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Indoor Sports Complex in Greater Noida.
“I have been training a lot since returning to the ring. At the national camp, I wasn’t allowed to train extra and lost some strength the end of it. But since my return, I am sparring with boys facing them in the ring,” said Simran.

With World Boxing getting recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the sport staying in the 2028 LA Olympics programme, Simran has high hopes.Story continues below this ad
“I hope that there are more tournaments from now on, especially World Cups and Asian tournaments,” she concluded.