CHENNAI: In February, the Washermanpet boxer Kalaivani S bagged Bronze in Bulgaria at the Strandja Memorial International Boxing Tournament. While she is rightfully India’s No 2 ranked boxer in her 48kg weight category, Kalaivani was not pleased by the result as she had aimed for the top prize.
“I felt happy and nice, but I expected gold. Unfortunately, I lost in the semis. Even my family anticipated me winning gold. They were disappointed and in disbelief,” Kalaivani told this daily. The Chennai-based boxer is logical and clear about her goal-setting. Her ambitions for the Olympics and World Championships don’t come in the way. Currently, at the National camp in Delhi, Kalaivani understands the importance of setting doable objectives and accomplishing them.
“Right now, the focus is to become the No 1 in my weight category,” she says. “Since the last few days, I’ve been continuously sparring with players from different nations. As I’m provided with good competition, I can see my shortcomings and rectify them. This is a different experience altogether relative to training along with fellow Indians. It helps me observe and learn from their techniques and strategies,” she explained.
The Indian boxing camp is boosted by the presence of Bernard Dunne, the recently appointed high-performance director, an Irish boxer and former WBA champion. Kalaivani, too, is delighted by his technical inputs that are helping her improve. Dmitry Dmitruk, a former Irish coach, was also added to India’s coaching staff. Kalaivani has previously worked with foreign coaches. She had a personal coach Ronald Simms from the USA and currently trains at the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS), where John Warburton from the UK heads the boxing.
As the 22-year-old mentioned earlier, her family, filled with boxers, had higher hopes for the gold. Her father Srinivasan M and her brother Ranjith are former boxers. Although her extended family weren’t pleased to make her a boxer, they eventually realised the champion in her. “In the initial days, my grandparents and relatives were against sending a girl into boxing. But after I started to win medals, they accepted and started to take pride in me,” she said. “At first, it was very hard for us. My father stood by me and gave his everything.”
Joining the JSW’s IIS camp made a valuable difference in finding her firm grounds to stand and train on. “IIS has been playing a very major role in my life. Both physically and technically, I grew stronger. Last year, they took us to a training camp in the UK. Apart from training, it has become easier regarding diet, travel allowance or equipment; it’s all taken care of.”
More than anything else, Kalaivani’s journey is about how the unfulfilled dreams keep the next generations spirited. Srinivasan dreamt of being on an Olympic stage. Now his daughter is carrying forward the same dream. “Like any athlete, I wanted to be at the Olympics and perform. It was my dad’s dream to be in the Olympics, and I wanted to fulfill it on his behalf,” she signed off.