The 28-year-old boxer believes she has enough time to prepare herself to qualify for the next Olympics in the French capital.
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From playing Kabbadi to taking up boxing, Indian boxer Saweety Boora has come a long way in her career. The 28-year-old is determined to make it into the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Prior to taking up boxing, Saweety was a national level kabaddi player. However, her father motivated her to take up the sport, which she eventually did. In 2009, she ended up at a trial in SAI and lost the first round against a trained boxer. She then regrouped and knocked out her opponent with just an uppercut punch. It was the start of her ever-growing boxing career. In a conversation on SportsTiger’s interview series “Mission Gold”, she discusses her journey till now and her future plans.
Remembering her first fight at the SAI trial, she said, “That was my first ever fight and the coach told my brother and my uncle that I am going to reach great heights in the sport. After that, I played for the state in 15 days where I secured a gold medal and within 3 months, I represented nationally where I again secured a gold as I was really passionate about it. And then finally in 2011, I became an international boxer and secured gold again for the nation. In 2012, I entered the youth competition and secured gold and due to my extraordinary performance, they took me in the senior camp. I secured gold at the senior level nationally but I wasn’t given any international tournaments.”
In an incredible turn of events, Saweety reached the podium at the 2014 world championship where she grabbed a silver medal. Like most athletes, the pandemic has been difficult for the two-time Asian Championship medalist with the recent being a bronze in Dubai in the 2021 Asian Championships. She said, “We practised at our homes for Asian Championship 2021, though the camp was organized it was only for Olympic qualified players. 5 girls attended the camp while 5 practised at their homes including me. We weren’t expecting our participation as to and fro flights were banned because of the pandemic. At the last moment, we got the permission and I won a bronze medal in the championship.”
Saweety was left disappointed as she missed out on a chance to take part in the Olympic qualifiers. She even considered leaving boxing and returning to Kabaddi. She elaborated, “I left the camp and came back because I wasn’t given a chance to participate in the Olympics qualifying. I came back home thinking that if I don’t even get a chance to participate in Olympics qualification what is the use of continuing with the sport? I have played at the world and Asian level and have taken everything. The only thing that I don’t have is an Olympic medal. I was even ready to take up kabaddi if this was the case.”
She has now set her sights on the 2024 Paris Olympics as she is eager to represent India at the Olympics in the French capital. Saweety said, “I am someone who works day and night to achieve my dreams. I still have three more years to prepare for the quadrennial event and I hope to represent my nation in the next Olympics for sure.”
