Manish Kaushik of Haryana would not have made it to Tokyo Olympics had it been held in 2020, but the coronavirus lockdown ensured he got time to rehabilitate from a career-threatening injury.
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Manish Kaushik, 2019 World Championship bronze medalist, was aiming to make the cut for Tokyo Olympics in the Asia-Oceania qualifiers in Jordan in 2020. In the game against Commonwealth Games gold medalist Anthony Garside of Australia, Kaushik suffered an injury in his right bicep. Every time he tried to use the right hand, the pain would be enormous. Kaushik secured a crucial win. Although he lost in the next round, Kaushik got the ticket to Tokyo in the 63kg lightweight division.
On his return back to his village, the pain refused to go. The MRI had not revealed anything. If the Tokyo Olympics was held as per schedule in July-August 2020, Manish Kaushik would not have boarded the plane to Japan. It looked like his dreams were over.
But then, the coronavirus pandemic struck. Tokyo Olympics was postponed. With the pain still troubling him, Kaushik had to wait for three months for the lockdown to end. After the lockdown was lifted, Kaushik consulted an expert in Mumbai. It revealed a severe tear. Kaushik did not know it, but this would be a blessing in disguise.
The postponement was a major disappointment for all sporting personalities. Not for Kaushik. The postponement gave him an additional year to recover. He decided to avoid surgery. Kaushik was going to undergo a lengthy period of rehabilitation and get it healed the natural way. For many months, he was away from the boxing ring. He worked on his fitness in Pune. But, he recovered. Now, armed with a second chance amidst good fortune, Manish Kaushik is determined to make this ‘lucky moment’ count.
Ahead of the Indian boxing contingent’s departure to Tokyo, Kaushik opened up on the experience. The Bhiwani boxer said there are no mental scars of the injury that almost threatened his participation in Tokyo.
“Not at all! I have fully recovered from my injury now. When I played at the Boxam International tournament in Spain in March 2021 after a gap of one year, I was a bit nervous about my injury. Because it was a long gap. But thankfully, everything went very well and my body responded perfectly. I had worked very hard during my rehabilitation period and that was the reason that my comeback was smooth. After that tournament, I feel perfectly normal and there is no fear or nervousness,” Kaushik said in an exclusive interaction with sportslumo.com
With the coronavirus pandemic still raging on in the world, sporting personalities had to adopt new methods of training and lifestyle. For Kaushik, he is ready to take everything in his stride. “We had to train in a biobubble. That was something very new for all of us in the beginning. But the new normal demands us to be flexible. It was the need of the hour to adjust to the changing circumstances. The year passed very quickly,” Kaushik said.
In the modern Olympics, Indian boxing has not had many success stories. It was Vijender Singh’s bronze in 2008 Beijing and the success of Mary Kom in the last decade that has boosted the profile of India’s boxing. Kaushik is quick to admit that Vijender had given Indian boxing wings to dream. It was Vijender’s bronze in 2008 Beijing that gave Kaushik, who was helping his parents in the fields in Bhiwani, to pursue the dream.
“Vijender Singh has been a massive influence in Indian boxing. He inspires all of us. Vijender was the one who made us believe that we can win a medal at the highest level,” Kaushik said.
Indian boxing has made rapid strides in the last couple of years. MC Mary Kom has won the most World Championships for females. In the recently concluded Asian Boxing Championships, India won 15 medals including two gold. Amit Panghal, Shiv Thapa, and Sanjeet Kumar have all succeeded in Commonwealth, Asian, and the Asian Amateur Boxing Championships. Kaushik believes this has put Indian boxers in a good state heading into Tokyo 2020.
“We have won medals at every major event in the past four years. The whole team is looking confident this time. We will give our everything to win medals for the country this time,” Kaushik said.
From almost missing out on Tokyo to having high hopes for a medal, a stroke of good luck in a world disaster might be the perfect story for Kaushik to secure his dream of a medal.
