I am one of those who work day and night to fulfill their dreams: Sweety Boora

Those who have strong intentions always find their way and this clearly applies to Indian boxer Sweety Boora. From being the only girl to play Kabaddi in her hometown (Hisar) in 2009, to picking up boxing and representing India at the international level, Sweety has certainly come a long way.

During a conversation on Sports Tiger’s new interview series Mission Gold, he spoke about his journey. Growing up as the only girl who chose boxing was a little difficult. But the undying passion for the game propelled Sweety forward. Though it was his father’s dream to see Sweety as an engineer, he chose what he was passionate about and also achieved new heights in this field.

Before becoming a boxer, Sweety was a national level Kabaddi player. But his father inspired him to take up boxing for a very special reason. She laughedly cited the reason that inspired her to take up boxing and said, I chose boxing because I used to talk very little in school but every time things went wrong, I couldn’t handle it. I used to try to convince my colleagues many times, but even then they used to answer me back, even then I tried to keep myself calm. But still they did not understand, so I used to throw punches at them.

After realizing his love for boxing, in 2009 he gave a trial at Sai (STR) and lost in the first round against a trained boxer and then his brother teased him by saying that, he showed the stars in the day. After this he again gathered courage and knocked out his opponent with just an upper cut punch and thus, he started his boxing career.

Recalling her first fight in Sai, she said that, it was my first fight and the coach told my brother and my uncle that I can achieve great heights in this game. After that I played for the state for 15 days where I won the gold medal and within 3 months, I represented at the national level where I got a gold again. And then finally in 2011, I became an international boxer and won the gold medal for the country again. In 2012, I participated in youth competition and won gold and because of my exceptional performance they took me to senior camp. I won gold medal at national level and senior level but I was not given any international tournament.

But his life took a different turn in 2014, when he was hospitalized and the Federation made an announcement that changed his career. She said, in 2014, I fell ill due to typhoid and had to be hospitalised. And at that time he announced that whoever became the national gold medalist would only be able to take part in the world championships. My doctor advised me to take rest but my love for the sport pushed me forward and I ran away from the hospital, ran 100 meters, caught the train and fainted in the train. My parents told me to come back but I was determined to represent India and they blessed me to go ahead. After that, in the 5 day national tournament, Sweety beat everyone in the fight and won , even though she could barely walk when she was away from the ring.

Recalling her journey to the podium at the 2014 World Championships, where Sweety won a silver medal, she said, “At the World Championships, I had really tough opponents and they wanted to trial for my weight category because they believed that I can’t win. But the federation had already announced, so they could not conduct the trial. So he decided not to take me or anyone in my weight category despite qualifying. Then on the last day they decided to take me. And I reached the final and won a silver medal for my country.

Like most athletes, the pandemic has been tough for the two-time Asian Championship medalist, most recently winning a bronze medal at the 2021 Asian Championships in Dubai. She recalled the time and when she was practicing alone and getting ready, she said, we practiced at our homes for the Asian Championship 2021, although the camp was organized but it only qualified for the Olympics. It was for the players. 5 girls participated in the camp while 5 including me practiced at their homes. We did not expect that we would participate in this tournament as there was a ban on incoming flights due to the pandemic. We got permission at the last minute and I won the bronze medal in the championship.

Despite so many achievements, the Hisar boxer’s fate did not stay with him as he had to face disappointment just ahead of his Olympic qualification this year. Then he also considered leaving boxing and returning to Kabaddi. “I left the camp and came back because I was not given a chance to participate in Olympic qualifying,” she said. I came back home thinking that if I did not get a chance to participate in the Olympic qualification, then what is the use of continuing the sport, I have played at the world and Asian level and have won many medals. The only thing I don’t have is an Olympic medal. If that was the case then I was ready to play Kabaddi as well.

But even after that, she is very determined to represent India in the 2024 Paris Olympics and she said, I am one of those who work hard day and night to achieve their dreams. I still have three more years to prepare for the 2024 Olympics and I definitely look forward to representing my country in the next Olympics.

He emphasized the fact that he is very proud of his teammates who will represent the country later this month. He also extended his best wishes and said, “Best wishes to the boxers who are going to represent India in the Tokyo Olympics from this month.”
In the end he suggested that young women boxers should work continuously towards their dreams and that no one should try to sabotage their intentions.