CHENNAI: Indian boxing in the women’s section has experienced a period of prosperity in the last few years or so. Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain, to name two, have thrived and become household names in the process.
There are obviously multiple factors that have empowered the boxers to stamp their class. One of the factors was coach Bhaskar Bhatt, who has decided to step down from his role. Bhatt is currently with the senior team, who are not part of the ongoing national camp, in Kazakhstan for Elorda Cup 2023. The bouts are scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
Given the timing of the decision, this comes as a massive development as the likes of Nikhat and Lovlina are currently preparing for the upcoming Asian Games, scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China from September 23. Bhatt said that he made the call in order to focus on SAI’s National Centre of Excellence in Rohtak, where he was recently appointed as high-performance director.
“I had gotten the letter in May and since then, I hadn’t been able to execute my duties. I was not able to justify my work. Hence, I made this call,” Bhatt told this daily from Astana. “We have a high-performance director, the foreign coach in BFI. The training is going on fine in that regard (training senior boxers). My SAI job was suffering,” he added.
Bhatt’s association with the sport goes a long way back. He had joined Sports Authority of India in 1992 before earning his stripes on the job. His mild-mannered approach while passing on key instructions had worked wonders, especially at the youth level. A rise to the top was inevitable and that came in late 2021.
When he joined, boxing at the senior level was clearly lacking ideas.
MC Mary Kom, who was clearly a shadow of her former self, had returned empty-handed from the Tokyo Olympics. Lovlina had been the only silver lining after her bronze medal. Most of the head coaches (including foreign coaches) were facing tough questions and most of them were eventually removed. In that backdrop, Bhatt had taken over as the chief coach of the women’s national team. It was no secret that he had a massive task in hand.
But the ever-effusive Bhatt, who had earned his spot, was eager to put his coaching skills to the test at the highest level. It was a matter of time before the results started coming as the likes of Nikhat and Nitu Ghanghas started putting up dominating fights. Similarly, there are others, especially youngsters, who have started expressing themselves with more intent inside the ring.
“He (Bhaskar Bhatt) knows me very well. He has helped me bring that aggression in my game. I used to play counter. Now, I have added a little bit of aggression in my game as well,” Nitu had said after confirming a place in the 48kg final of the 2023 IBA World Championships, where she eventually went on to win gold. Bhatt, who is mostly likely on his last assignment with the senior team, will be looking to end on a high.