Boxer Sarita Devi And Husband Thoiba Singh Test Positive For COVID-19

Celebrated boxer Laishram Sarita Devi and her husband Thoiba Singh tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. The couple has been moved to a care facility in Imphal and is relieved that their son, Tomthin, has tested negative. "Me and Sarita have tested positive. We are right now moving to a COVID-19 care facility. Both of us have no symptoms at all and I don't see any reason to panic," Thoiba told PTI.

“I was suffering from fever apart from soreness in body, along with light cold since the last three days," Sarita told The Indian Express from Imphal.

The former World and Asian champion is the second boxer to have tested positive for novel coronavirus after Dingko Singh. Assuring that they are undergoing treatment, her husband claimed, "I have no idea how this infection caught us. I think we were taking all precautions. But hopefully, it is going to be all right. We will recover soon. I am just relieved that Tomthin has tested negative," TOI reported.

Sarita is an eight-time Asian Championships medallist – five of them gold. The 38-year-old has three World Championships medals — a gold in 2006 and a bronze each in 2005 and 2008.

What You Should Know

• Indian boxer Sarita Devi on Monday informed that she has tested positive for coronavirus.
• She and her husband are undergoing treatment in a care facility in Imphal.
• Devi is the second boxer to have tested positive for Covid-19 after Dingko Singh.

Sarita claimed that she had gone to meet her brother and their newborn baby about ten days ago. "I was helping my brother’s family. After we returned home, after two-three days, I had symptoms. At first, I thought it was muscle cramps but then we decided to get tested. We gave our samples yesterday and the results came positive for me and my husband. My eight-year-old son, my cousin sister and her daughter have tested negative,” she told TNE.

A feisty boxer Sarita, who fights in the 60 kg category, lost in the trials of the Olympic qualifying event in Jordan in March earlier this year. "She is going through a tough time but we will fight on and bounce back stronger," Thoiba said.

Also Read:From working in agricultural fields to fighting the world: Sarita Devi

Last year, she was elected as a member of the first-ever International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) Athletes’ Commission. She has made the country proud in various platforms, including the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games when she won silver. In the 2014 Asian Games, she refused to accept her bronze medal after a controversial loss to host Korea's Park Ji-Na. She was also banned for a year after that for the protest at the podium during which she handed her medal to Park.

As a veteran, she means to generate a buzz around issues related to women’s boxing. “The well-being of women boxers is a primary concern for me and I will try and be their active voice in AIBA,” she had said, News18 reported.

The gold medalist from the 2006 World Championships is running an academy in Manipur for the last five years. "I can never be away from boxing. After retirement, I will keep on working on producing good boxers for the country,” she said to Sportstar last year. The Manipuri assured that she is not deciding on her retirement anytime soon.

Also Read: Meet Tanaz Mohammed: A Hockey Player Who Is A Football Coach

Feature Image Credit: Hindustan Times

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