Lovlina Borgohain, 23, who took home a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics attributed her victory to her coach Sandhya Gurung. She said that it was a huge reward for the sacrifices that she made in the past eight years.

However, before becoming Lovlina’s coach, Sandhya, a national-level boxer, had to dodge her own set of struggles.

Hailing from Sikkim, Sandhya was met with a road accident that paralysed her, leaving her bed-ridden for three years, before she even began her career in boxing. The recovery left her apprehensive of boxing because back then, it was not quite an organised sport in the region.

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However, in 1999, boxing got a push in India and this motivated Sandhya to begin her journey in the sport and become a national level boxer in the 68kg category. In 2008, she played her last game and clinched a gold medal.

After her exploits, she was offered to become a coach or an official and she was nudged in the coaching direction by the current Chief Minister of Sikkim, Prem Singh Golay. After obtaining her coach’s diploma in 2010, she has been training various sportspersons and came across Lovlina in 2012, who seemed reserved and fearful to her in the beginning.

“She had everything, but she was scared. It was okay against weaker opponents. She’d still win against them. But the moment you put her in the ring with a real threat – in an actual pressure situation, she would panic,” Sandhya told ESPN.

“She was a tall, shy girl, but the height advantage got her the attention from Assam in sub-junior camp. She was a bit reluctant in sparring, but we pushed her to fight that fear. Her target was always on the Olympics, ever since she went for the sub-junior world championship in 2013. She was initially playing in the 75 kg category. Later, she came down to 69 kg eyeing for the Olympics,” East Mojo quoted her as saying.

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Currently, Sandhya manages her life between Sikkim and the National camp in Delhi. Her aim and intention are to train women to become star boxers, much like Lovlina, making a name for them in sports.