GUWAHATI, Oct 27 - Ankushita Boro (64kg) is one of India�s brightest upcoming talents and her back to back silver medals in two Youth International Championship speak volumes about her talent.
She won silver medals in Balkan Youth International Boxing Championship, Bulgaria and in 31st International Ahmet Comert Boxing Tournament, Istanbul.
On the onset a shy teenager but when it comes to her stinging punches, this 17 year old boxer is surely a tough challenge for any boxer. Ankushita who claims to be a boxer by chances got hooked to the sport under strange circumstances. Hailing from a humble background in Thelamara near Tezpur, Assam, her father is a teacher but doesn�t get paid for it. Her mother helps out in social welfare department and tries to make both ends meet with financial aid from her parents. Her elder brother, who plays Volleyball, inspired her to take up sports.
This diminutive pugilist from Guwahati took up the sport in 2013 at the age of 12, only when a friend asked her to come and play in a local tournament. And since then there has been no looking back for her. The fighting spirit inculcated through life has pushed her to the limits and that yielded a bronze at the national championships recently. Although her exposure trip to Istanbul was her first international event, she is raring to cash on her recent medal winning (silver) exploits. She accepts it will be tough but is confident that the rigorous camp and the sparring sessions that she has undergone will do her wonders. The training trip organised in Kazakhstan, earlier had made her more confident of her pursuit.
This teenager from Assam is not only raring to give wings to her dreams to play for India and win laurels; she is also inspiring fellow State mate including her younger sister who has also taken up the sport. Anukshita feels that if she keeps performing at the elite level, she can inspire many more boxers like her idol Mary Kom has been doing. Ankushita is currently a student of Dakshin Guwahati Junior College.
Joy Kumari Lama (51kg): Fresh from her podium finish (bronze medal) at the prestigious Balkan Championship, has set her sight on the Youth World Championship.
A 10th standard student of Chandmari High School, Golaghat, Assam, she started her boxing career at the age of 12. The young pugilist got smitten by this extreme sport when she got a chance to witness a live boxing match in her school. Coming from a humble background, when she expressed her desire to take up the sport to the parents, they reluctantly agreed to support her dreams. Henceforth there is no stopping her and the pugilist is determined to prove herself. She won Silver in the National Boxing Championship and plans to change the colour of her medal in the upcoming tournament and inspire more girls to take up the sport. Both the young boxers are now looking forward for the World Youth Women Boxing Championship to be held here from November 19.
