India’s premier boxer legend Sarita Laishram Devi has started an endeavour to train young talents from her state of Manipur, with many budding boxers undergoing training at Sarita's boxing academy.
Sarita, a former world champion and four-time Asian champion, has been working hard to sharpen the skills of young boxers at her academy in Thoubal.
To carry forward her vision of bringing forth more boxing talents from India's Northeast region, Sarita opened a boxing academy in 2012. Her vision is to produce world-class boxers for the country.
"I myself belong to a small village and sportspersons hardly get support in the village and they don't get a chance. During my time, I struggled a lot, worked hard a lot. Today, whatever name and fame I have earned through boxing and whatever help I have acquired from the government, I want to utilise for the youth. I want to motivate the young talents of the village and share my learning experience with them. During my time, many of them didn't get a chance to come forth. that is the reason I have opened this academy to help budding youngsters," Sarita said.
Presently, more than 60 students are being trained under her guidance.
It is worth mentioning that boxers from her academy have participated in many national level boxing tournaments and have brought laurels to the state.
Well-trained coaches have also been appointed in the academy.
Coach Sorokhaibam Dhanabir Singh said, "The kids here are doing well and there have been lot of improvement that I have observed within these two months. We are training them well. Being a coach I feel good. We have SAI centres in Imphal, Khuman Lampak Stadium, NationalSportsAcademy and those who couldn't reach to those centres they can come here in this academy."
Rigorous training is being provided to the youngsters, helping them to carry forward their dreams of being champions.
Bijeta, a student, said, "In the year 2013, I participated in the state-level boxing companionship and I won a bronze, and later in 2014, I won a gold medal. I feel so good and happy winning the medals, even my parents are happy for me."
Priyo, another student, said, "From a very young age, I was interested in boxing. My parents wanted me to concentrate on my studies, but I was more into boxing and Wushu wrestling. After passing my 12th exam, I came to know that Sarita Ma'am is giving training in our locality and that's how I joined this boxing academy."
Sarita aims to produce more boxers under her leadership and make them ready in such a manner so that they are capable of competing on international level.
Image: L Sarita Devi
Photograph: PTI Photos
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