CHENNAI: Indian boxing has made giant strides in the last 12 months or so. The punches have been venomous and that has reflected in their results. They had left an indelible mark during the Commonwealth Games earlier this year with seven gold medals but they still had a point to prove. They did just that during the Asian Games, which was held in Aichi, Nagoya, that followed. A haul of three gold and three bronze, marking their best-ever output in the history of the quadrennial multi-sport event.
One man who has been the heart of their development is Santiago Nieva, head coach of the women's team. It's not a surprise that Nieva is a pleased man. Now, the Argentina-born Swede tactician is looking to capitalise on the recent upswing and prepare a productive path ahead for his wards.
"Obviously, I was super happy. It was an amazing tournament for us, history-making. We knew that we had not won a gold last time and historically, there have been very few gold. So the objective was obviously to have boxers in the final and stand on top of the podium. And we had three boxers in the final, and all three of them won gold. We didn't just end up making history for Indian boxing as our best-ever result, but also we ended up number one in the medal table," Nieva told The New Indian Express.
It's not just the medals but also the level of opponents that his wards have been taking down that has given the coach an upbeat outlook. In the Asian Championships — the first marquee event of the year, the boxers won five gold and finished as No 2 overall in the medal standings. In the Commonwealth Games, most of the rivals were a no match for the Indians and Asiad was far more tougher, but India still managed to take the numero uno spot. "Also, we beat Uzbekistan and China, who won eight gold medals combined at the last Olympics. We beat Kazakhstan and other strong countries as well. So, yeah, it was very satisfying."
One of the boxers who shone bright during the Asiad was Lovlina Borgohain. Despite her extensive experience, there were some question marks over her form. But the Tokyo Olympic medallist, who competes in 75kg, was a step ahead of the rivals and returned with the gold medal, showing that she's still a potent force inside the squared circle. Nieva was obviously pleased for her but he felt she still has a lot more to offer. "She has improved in some areas but I still think that there is more to improve. So I still think we will see an even better version of Lovlina later on. Both the semifinal and the final were against super strong opponents who had done really well — world champ from Kazakhstan and the Chinese rival who had won the last World Cup and the Asian Championships of course where Lovlina had lost," he said.
The coach also had words of praise for the other two gold medallists — Parveen Hooda (65kg) and Ankush Panghal (80kg). Parveen was one of the rare misses during the CWG and Nieva was encouraged by her ability to bounce back after adversity. Sakshi Chaudhary (51kg) and Preeti Sai Pawar (54kg) were a couple of boxers who missed out on medals this time around. But Nieva is confident that they will regain their winning touch again. "The other three girls, Sakshi, Preeti and Priya; they were unbeaten internationally this year. Among them three, they had not lost a single bout coming in and but we know at the Asian Games, there were Olympic medallists, Worlds medallists who missed out on the medals from other countries as well."
Sakshi was involved in a close fight against a boxer from Kazakhstan while Priya, who captured a bronze, lost by split verdict against a rival from China. "This is boxing, there are some things we need to continue to work on and improve but when it comes to Preeti, Sakshi or Priya, I'm not worried about them. I'm not worried about their level because we know they have the level and they can come back stronger."
National camp from October 20
The national camp is set to resume from October 20 but most of the medal winners will not be part of it as of now. With the medallists having already secured a spot in the 2027 World Championships, the first Olympic qualifying event, they'll have their own individual training programme. Sakshi's miss has opened doors for former two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen to try and build herself and regain her spot (51kg) during the national championships which is set to be later this year. Nikhat is expected to be part of the camp along with boxers, who are yet to secure a spot in the aforementioned Worlds. The likes of Nikhat and Sakshi could be sent for exposure tours, starting at the end of month in Finland.
For Nieva and the rest of the coaching staff, the long-term goal is the LA28 Olympics and they're hoping to get an exposure tour to the US next year. "Right now, we are setting a plan for the World Championships next year. The international calendar is still unclear. Apart from the Olympic qualifiers, we don't know about the dates of the World Cup and other tournaments but that's something we'll have a look at. On the wishlist is a training camp in the US next year, roughly one year before the Olympics. We intend to go there and acclimatize to those conditions. We are trying to get a Strength and Conditioning expert from Sweden whom I have worked with for many years," he said.