Fighting all odds, Sweety Boora has emerged as one of the top boxers in the light heavyweight category (81 kg) – her biggest achievement being the silver medal win in 2014 World Championships. Initially into kabaddi, this state-level player switched over to boxing on the advice of her father, who wanted her to excel in individual sport because of the limited scope in the team games.
“I have played kabaddi at the state and the district level. But my father said that I should choose individual sport as there was limited scope in the team games. To it, for kabaddi I had to shift my base to Gujarat and that wasn’t acceptable to my family. Hence I started practicing boxing at the Sports Authority Centre in Hisar,” said Sweety, who took part in the 4th Junior Women National Boxing Championship at Monual Haq Stadium Rajendra Nagar, Patna in 2009 and won the gold.
The daughter of a small time farmer – Mahender Singh – said that initially she had to overcome a lot of resistance from relatives and village members. “When I joined boxing many of my relatives and village people were against my decision. But it was my father who supported me throughout. My mother has also played her part as she never asked me to do household chores and always encouraged me to concentrate on my game,” said Sweety, who belongs to Giraye village in Hisar district.
Talking about her initial days in boxing, Sweety reminisced that it wasn’t easy. “It was tough. My coach used to make me run on ploughed fields. Thereafter, I used to undergo 3-4 hours of tough training. But then it made me tough,” said Sweety, giving due credit to all her coaches, including Hemlata Singh Bagdawal, Raj Singh, Sanjay Kumar and Anup Kumar.
Speaking about her future plan and aim, Sweety, who is also good in her studies and is currently pursuing her post graduation, said that she aimed to become the number one in her category. “At present, I am No 2 in world ranking in 81 kg category. I will try to be become the No 1 boxer now,” said Sweety.
Meanwhile, urging the government and the boxing federation for support, the Haryana boxer said that the boxers have lost a lot because of the infighting in the federation in the last four years and would request the newly-formed body to come out in their support. “We have lost a lot in the last four years. We need support and request the boxing federation to do the same. The best they can do for us is to give us a fair trial during selection. We also need financial help,” said Sweety, who is a government employee in Income Tax department.
Boxer Name: Sweety Boora
Father's Name: Mahender Singh
Mother's Name: Suman Devi
Address SAI, STC HAU, Hisar, Haryana
DOB: 1993-01-10
Main achievements:
2014 World Championships: Silver medal
2015 Asian Championships: Silver medal
World Ranking: 2 (81 kg category)
S.No. Championships Name Venue Date Bouts State Medal
1 4th Junior Women National Boxing Championship 2009 at Monual Haq Stadium Rajendra Nagar, Patna, Bihar 2009-11-10 2 SAI Gold
2 1st Youth Women Haryana State Boxing Championship, Haryana 2010-06-25 1 SAI H Silver
3 S.H.N.C. Sharma Memorial Federation Cup Women Boxing Championships 2010-11, Uttarakhand 2010-11-18 2 Punjab Silver
4 9th Senior Women Haryana State Boxing Championships at Village Samalkha, Panipat, Haryana 2010-11-26 2 S HSR Gold
5 11th Senior Women National Boxing Championships at Thrissur, Kerala 2010-12-05 1 Haryana
6 2nd Inter-Zonal Women National Boxing Championship at N.T.R Stadium, Guntur Andhra Pradesh 2011-03-24 3 North Zone Gold
7 2nd Youth Women Haryana State Boxing Championships at Mahandergarh Haryana 2011-09-15 1 SAI-H Gold
8 7th Youth Women National Boxing Championships Patiala, Punjab 2011-09-24 2 Haryana Gold
9 N.C. Sharma Memorial Federation Cup Women Boxing Championships at DSA Ground Nainital, Uttarakhand 2011-11-17 3 Haryana Gold
10 1st UBA Cup Women Boxing Tournament,Hisar Haryana 2011-11-27 2 SAI-H Gold
11 3rd Inter-Zonal Women National Boxing Championship Anna Thidal, Puducherry 2011-12-21 3 NORTH Gold
12 8th Federation Cup Women Boxing Championships At Sai Sports Complex Guwahati, Assam 2012-02-17 2 Haryana Gold
13 7th Senior Women North India Boxing Championships Himachal Pradesh 2012-06-09 2 Haryana Gold
14 4th Inter-Zonal Women National Boxing Championship at Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh 2012-07-12 2 NORTH Gold
15 13th Senior Women National Boxing Championships Guwahati, Assam 2012-11-25 3 Haryana Bronze
16 12th Senior Women Haryana State Boxing Championships, Hisar Haryana 2013-05-11 1 SAI-H Gold
17 14th Senior Women Boxing Competition Khatima, Uttrakhand 2013-05-18 3 HAR Gold
18 8th Senior Women North India Boxing Championships at Srinagar Jammu & Kashmir 2013-10-11 2 Haryana Gold
19 13th Senior Women State Boxing Championships At Bhiwani Haryana 2014-06-26 1 HSR-A Gold
20 14th Senior Women Haryana State Boxing Championships Haryana 2015-09-10 1 BWN Gold
21 16th Senior(Elite) Women National Boxing Championshp - 2015 New Bongaigaon, Guwahati, Assam 2015-10-27 3 HAR Gold
