Six years ago, Satyawan watched MC Mary Kom win an Olympic Games bronze medal and encouraged his daughter Raj Sahiba, 10 then, to take up the sport. He believed her daughter had it in her to make India proud, too.
Raj Sahiba’s entry into the medal rounds in the inaugural Khelo India School Games (KISG) comes as no surprise since she has already won gold not only in the National Sub-Junior Championship last year but also in tournaments in Ukraine and Serbia the last couple of months.
“I have had a good beginning in 2018 with a gold at the Nations Cup in the 70kg class. Back in December, I won in Ukraine (at the Valeria Demyanova Memorial International tournament) where I defeated a local boxer. That win was extra special,” she said after winning her quarterfinal bout against Maharashtra’s Vidhi Rawal here.
“I have always been into sport. In my primary school I used to be quite active in athletics and wrestling since they did not teach is boxing,” she said. Her shift to boxing came during her middle-school years when she moved to Bhiwani to train with veteran boxing coach, Jagdish Singh. He recognised Raj Sahiba’s potential.
Haryana has produced world-class boxers for quite some time now but Raj Sahiba is the first boxer to emerge from the Sansi (nomadic tribe) in Haryana, “I have seen a lot of my friends who were married off at a young age,” she says. “I think I have been lucky to have my father’s support. Boxing is a big sport in my city. My father always pushed me to it.”
Raj Sahiba has fulfilled her dream of meeting her idol Mary Kom. “She had come to our academy. I told her that she was the reason I took up boxing. It made her happy and she blessed me,” Raj Sahiba says. Her journey of living up to her father’s expectations has been memorable as she adds to the list of success stories from the heart of India’s boxing capital.