Who Is Nitu Ghanghas? Boxer Gearing Up For World Championships

Two-time World Youth Champion Nitu Ghanghas defeated experienced Romanian boxer Steluta Duta in the opening round of the World Women's Boxing Championships in Istanbul at 48 kg. The National champion, Ghanghas, defeated Steluta 5-0 in a match as she made her elite-level debut at a World tournament.

Ghanghas is now eager to compete at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games (CWG). CWG is scheduled to take place between July 28 and August 8. However, the 21-year-old will have to go against several big names including the likes of six-time world champion MC Mary Kom.

Who Is Nitu Ghanghas?

Ghanghas is 21 years old and is from the village of Dhanana in the Haryana district of Bhiwani. Ghanghas, who began her boxing career in 2012, has encountered several difficulties along the way. Women are pressured to perform household duties in their village, but she was encouraged to start boxing after learning about Vijender Singh, the famous fighter from Bhiwani and an Olympic bronze medalist.

She acquired her skills at the renowned Bhiwani Boxing Club (BBC). In one of her interviews with the Indian Express, Ghanghas revealed that she vividly recalls making her first 20-kilometer bus trip from the town of Dhanana to the Bhiwani Boxing Club with fellow boxer Sakshi Choudhary and her father in order to practise with instructor Jagdish Singh. She had just completed her first, two-hour training session when her father, Jai Bhagwan, greeted her outside the academy. It was in 2012.

In addition to attending school, the BBC mandated two and a half hours of training in the morning and evening. Her father, Jai Bhagwan, reportedly risked his own career in order to ensure that his daughter did everything possible to succeed. Bhagwan, a worker at the Chandigarh Vidhan Sabha, took unpaid leave from his position, moved back to Dhanana, and started going to training with Ghanghas every day. He later quit his job.

Later, the father-daughter team spent more than a month receiving treatment in a Delhi hospital in 2015 due to a pelvic injury. Bhagwan made the decision to sell the family's automobile and borrow money from friends and family to support the family, as per the report.

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In the same year, she won her first nationals and went on to represent the country. She displayed her talent on grand stages by winning gold medals at the 2017 and 2018 Youth World Championships, as well as another gold medal at the 2018 Asian Youth Championships. But in 2019, a shoulder injury proved to be a significant roadblock to her progress. She missed two years of boxing, and the COVID outbreak severely interfered with her training.

After extensive training, she fully recovered from the injury in 2021 and won the gold medal at the Strandja Memorial. The young boxer will compete against six-time World Champion Mary Kom for a spot in the CWG.