Bhaskar Bhatt stated, "The sports science team, including the mental trainer and physios, played a crucial role.
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Bhaskar Bhatt, India’s boxing head coach, has attributed the achievement of the country’s four gold medalists to the assistance of the sports science team. The team comprising of mental trainers and physios worked behind the scenes to help the boxers with the immense stress of expectations and tough opponents. He stated, “The sports science team, including the mental trainer and physios, played a crucial role. After draining fights, they prepared the athletes mentally and physically for the next bouts.”
India had its best performance at the World Championships in 17 years owing to the quartet, Nitu Ghanghas (48 kg), Nikhat Zareen (50 kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg), and Saweety Boora (81 kg) performance at the Women’s World Boxing Championships 2023. Bhaskar Bhatt, the team’s head coach, commended the athletes’ determination and hard work. Bhatt praised each gold medalist and emphasized their distinctive advantages.
Nitu Ghanghas received praise for her increased maturity and ability to modify her strategy in response to the opponent’s tactics. He said, “Nitu is getting better in her long-range game. She showed how tough she is mentally.” Although Nikhat Zareen was eyeing for a second gold medal in the championships, this was a completely different class for the reigning world champion. Bhaskar Bhatt stated, “Nikhat’s determination to win gold helped her take her second World title.”
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Although some luck in the final for Lovlina Borgohain, it was her persistent focus that ended her World championship bronze medal curse. Bhaskar Bhatt added, “After the Olympics, Lovlina had a down phase. She has changed a lot, has become a lot more religious and values her family more, and is completely focused on boxing. She kept her patience in every bout,” said Bhatt. After the final, Lovlina was open about the fact that she couldn’t execute her strategy adequately in the end and emphasized the need to improve.
It was a dream come true for Saweety Boora to win the gold medal. Nine years ago, she had previously won a silver medal at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in 2014 in Jeju City, South Korea. “Saweety is mentally very strong. She was ready to do everything inside the ring to emerge as the winner. Her confidence level propelled her to the gold medal,” said Bhatt. The younger boxers also did well but need more experience. “I am sure they will improve after getting more exposure,” added Bhaskar Bhatt.
Bhaskar Bhatt was appointed the head coach of the senior women’s boxing team in November 2021. Owing to his successful outing with the boxers competing at the Youth World Championships in Poland in 2021 where India bagged seven gold and three bronze medals, he was roped in with the responsibility. Since then, he led the women’s boxing team to an incredible performance at the Commonwealth Games 2022.
