Nikhat Zareen, Boxing
Million-dollar Baby
Last time I had said I’m thinking of buying a Mercedes, but since I won a Thar, I’m thinking of not buying it.” That was Nikhat Zareen speaking aloud after winning gold at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi last month. She looked relieved and wanted more. “Next target is Asian Games and then Olympics.” A few years ago, forget about buying a car, Zareen did not even know whether she would be playing the sport. Women’s boxing had its empress MC Mary Kom and Zareen was fighting in her weight category. There were times when she was so frustrated that she even contemplated quitting. Things changed after the boxer started getting opportunities and the gold at the 2022 World Championships gave her more confidence. Fame and riches followed. She could afford a Mercedes. “The biggest motivation is the honour of representing one’s country,” she says. “The most important quality is to never give up—on hard work and your dreams. Fight for the dreams till your last breath.”
Sportspersons at their pinnacle are a thrill to watch. The mind and body tend to be in perfect harmony. Zareen is in that zone right now. This, however, came after years of struggle, something she had faced from the first day she took up the sport in Nizamabad, Telangana. Coming from a conservative background, where women were not encouraged to take up sports, let alone a combat sport like boxing, it was not easy. But the sports star says the support she got from her parents, especially her father, helped her do better. “It was hard initially. When I picked up the sport, many people around me used to criticise saying I’m a girl. They would tell my father, ‘Are you taking your daughter to get beaten up?’ They used to say boxing is a man’s sport,” says Zareen. “Not just me, my father too had to bear so much. Sometimes I used to think I should quit, but I have a goal and I have turned a deaf ear to everyone.” Those tough moments at a young age have hardened her mind and she knows she will need it in her future endeavours.
-Anmol Gurung
Shafali Verma, Cricket
A Shot to Fame
When Sanjeev Verma, a jewellery repairer in Rohtak, Haryana, took his nine-year-old daughter Shafali to Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Lahli, it was to watch Sachin Tendulkar bat in his last Ranji Trophy season, and nothing more. The master blaster, of course, did not disappoint as he went on to treat them with a stroke-filled unbeaten 79, which ensured Mumbai’s victory against the home side. By the time the match got over, a dream was sowed—Shafali wanted to play cricket. Even then, little did the father and daughter imagine that she would go on to become the first woman to win an ICC title for the country in a decade’s time. In fact, the first time she played in a tournament was taking her brother Sahil’s place in a U12 tournament. She had cut her hair short, to which Sanjeev gave the nod, and that is where it all began. Shafali would tear apart the boys in the tournament, hitting them all across the park to earn the player of the tournament trophy.
“At that time it was difficult, but in the last two years it has become a lot better. Every place has academies for young girls,” says Sanjeev. Right now, according to her father, cricket has taken a back seat as Shafali is taking her exams. In the last three years, Shafali, too, has endured a lot, including a World Cup final loss in 2020. On a balmy January evening at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom, South Africa, this year, Shafali was inconsolable, but those were happy tears. She had made history, leading a bunch of talented youngsters to U19 World Cup trophy, the first ICC title for Indian women. “We had lost the (2020) World Cup and those were tears of sadness. Today, they are tears of joy because we achieved what we came for. I will look at this as a big achievement and use this to learn something more. I will try to score more runs for India and am not going to be satisfied with this Cup. This is just the beginning,” said Shafali after winning the World Cup. Indeed, Shafali who watched Tendulkar at Lahli a decade ago might have come a long way, but she is still 19, and this is the beginning of a lot more to come.
-Gomesh S
Lovlina Borgohain, Boxing
Packing a Punch
Golaghat district is home to the famed Kaziranga National Park, where one-horned rhinos draw plenty of visitors throughout the year. Now, the district is also much-talked about because of boxer Lovlina Borgohain, who added yet another feather to her cap by winning gold at the 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championships. In fact, she is a multiple world championships medallist. Lovlina says the sport has given her everything, including a job as Deputy Superintendent of Police in the Assam Police. Hailing from a village to becoming the poster girl of Assam, the 25-year-old has come a long way. Her billboards and hoardings are there in almost all cities in the state, and her story has inspired a host of young boxers to take up the sport. Despite coming from a humble background, Lovlina always seemed to possess that self-awareness, a vital quality that helped her navigate tricky battles on and off the ring. The recent world title was after her historic bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Her father Tiken Borgohain explains what keeps her motivated: “She has earned a lot of respect because of the sport and hence she is always looking to stay humble and give her best.” For Lovlina too, sport is her primary focus. “I’m very pleased with my performance (at the world championships), but my journey is just getting started.
I will give my best in the upcoming championships and qualify for the Olympics,” she says.
Even though she has had an excellent time, her career graph touched its nadir in 2021. At the World Championships that year, she was out before the medal round. She also made an early exit at Commonwealth Games. Lovlina voiced her concerns on social media after Sandhya Gurung, her personal coach, was initially denied entry to the Games Village. “She was totally stressed and unhappy that the coach was neglected,” Sandhya recalls. Given her recent backstory, the latest gold medal could not have come at the right time. The performance gives her renewed belief as she chases greatness. But for Lovlina, it’s the Asian Games test next.
-AG
Jintimoni Kalita, Cricket
Breaking Boundaries
Jintimoni Kalita is a bundle of energy. Throwing herself around on the field was the most common sight in the Mumbai Indians’ title-winning campaign during the WPL. The teen all-rounder from Assam has unbridled enthusiasm about cricket and life that is almost contagious. India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who was also Kalita’s captain in the WPL, and West Indies all-rounder Hayley Matthews were impressed and Harmanpreet even called her a future prospect. For Kalita, the WPL was an opportunity of a lifetime. Having grown up idolising Jhulan Goswami and Harmanpreet, to share the dressing room with them was a dream. “When we make someone an idol and get to play with them, the feeling is hard to put in words,” Kalita says. She did not even expect to be signed for `10 lakh. Her hometown Mangaldoi, district headquarter, is just a speck on the map. Now, she has the opportunity to make it famous. “If I do well in this game, they will play me in the next” was her mindset during the WPL. She kept at it and ended up playing all the matches for MI.
The eldest child in the family of four—her parents, a younger brother and her—Kalita knows the significance of the WPL. She is the first woman, third overall, from Assam to play in the franchise league. The previous big name from the state was Monika Das, who played for India A. Kalita is aware of the responsibilities on her shoulders. She has been through her share of struggles to get where she is now. She started playing cricket by chance, while dropping her brother at a cricket coaching centre. One day, the coach asked her to join. After the initial resistance, her parents eventually agreed after some convincing from the coaches. She trained with boys, often playing with borrowed kits and shoes as it was too expensive. With her father being a fourth-grade employee with the state government, getting all the cricketing gear was not easy. With the WPL, the financial burden has come down massively. “I am the eldest and whatever I got from my parents, I can give them back. To make this kind of money and give it to my family is really big for me,” she says.
-GS
Women’s team, Chess Olympiad
Queens’ Gambit
Record-breakers. History-makers. Trend-setters. Every once in a while, one gets treated to a band of people creating something so special that one feels privileged to be in their presence. That’s what transpired on a muggy afternoon in Mahabalipuram last year. While the focus was elsewhere—women’s chess players seldom occupy the spotlight, even when they are creating history—five women etched their names into the sands of time: Koneru Humpy, D Harika, R Vaishali, Bhakti Kulkarni and Tania Sachdev. When FIDE announced they had won the team bronze at the Olympiad, it was a moment to savour. They had become the first women from the country to win at the Olympiad. Even taking into consideration the absences of powerhouses like China and Russia, it was a feat worthy of recognition.
What stuck to the memory, though, was the lack of a celebration from the team. They were sad as they had occupied the top of the leaderboard for almost two weeks before losing their way on the last day. “It’s hard to understand the gravity of winning the first medal because we are disappointed that we couldn’t win gold for the country,” said Tania, adding, “That was the aim from the beginning.” Humpy, too, was downhearted: “Winning a medal is historical, but as sportspersons, it was a bad day for us.” After a few days, though, the realisation of doing something special hit them.
All of them had sacrificed something and the shiny metal disc was the reward. None more so than Harika, who was in her third trimester at the time of the Olympiad. She did have the option of sitting out, but after getting the all-clear from her doctor, she cracked on. “I always dreamt about being on the podium for India and finally made it this time,” Harika wrote on social media. “Ever since I heard about the Olympiad being held in India and my doctor said it’s possible to play if I stay healthy without any complications, my life revolved around making it to the event and winning the medal.” That’s what they ended up doing.
-Swaroop Swaminathan
Highest-earning woman athlete
PV Sindhu
Career highlights (all singles)
Named 12th highest-paid woman athlete in 2022 by Forbes with a total earning of $7.1 million (Rs 59 crore approx).
Stars of today & future
A look at the career highlights of a few stars
Nikhat Zareen
Won $200,000 for winning world titles in 2022 and 2023. Also has some endorsement deals with notable brands.
Smriti Mandhana
One of the prolific openers in the world, the southpaw is the third-highest run-getter for India in ODIs and 2nd in T20Is
Became the highest-paid cricketer in the WPL when RCB signed her for Rs 3.4 crore
Aditi Ashok
Youngest participant among golfers in 2016 Olympics. In the following Olympics, she finished two shots behind gold medallist to eventually finish fourth, a giant effort given the quality of field and the size of the competition.
Titles (pro level)
D Harika
Considered one of the finest women chess players, she helped India secure a medal at the 2022 Chess Olympiad. She had also won a World Championships medal and was part of India team that won silver at world team championships