India has a rich tradition on the international stages in boxing, and the popularity of the sport was renewed in the last decade when Mary Kom won an Olympic gold medal in 2012. She was also the first Indian female boxer to win an Olympic medal and her story inspired thousands of next-generation female boxers, one of them being Jaismine Lamboria.

The young boxer, who was making her Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham, qualified for the semifinal and ensured at least a bronze medal for India. While she has been in terrific form, both in national and international competitions in the past few years, her image is still vague to most Indian fans. Let’s take a look at who she is and how her uncles made her into a champion boxer.

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Born on August 30, 2001, in Bhiwani, Haryana, Jaismine came to understand boxing from a young age. Bhiwani is known widely for the boxers it has produced over the years, and Jaismine’s family was one of the most high-profile households in that regard.

Her great grandfather was Captain Hawa Singh, who is the only Indian boxer to win successive gold medals at the Asian Games. He was also one of the founding members of the Bhiwani Boxing Club, which produced greats like Vijender Singh and Akhil Kumar. Both of Jaismine’s uncles, Parvinder Singh and Sandeep Singh were also international boxers, who also helped her through the socio-economic constraints of becoming her family’s first-ever female boxer.

Both of her uncles retired in 2007, owing to injuries sustained during boxing matches. They began coaching at their village in 2013 and a young Jaismine, who was studying in the 10th grade at the time, asked them if they could coach her to become a boxer.

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While her father did not want her to be a boxer, Sandeep Singh fought with her father and grandfather to convince them to agree. He took his niece to Madhuban, where he was working for the Haryana Police to begin her coaching. However, there was a dearth of female boxers in Madhuban, which forced her to return to her other uncle, Parvinder Singh’s Lamboria Boxing Academy, where he began training with boys instead.

Jasmine went on to win her first national level title in 2019 at the All India University Games, where she beat 2019 Asian Championship bronze medal winner Manisha Moun in the 57kg category. She also went on to win the Youth Eskar All Female Box Cup in Dublin that year, followed by the Asian Youth bronze medal in Mongolia. Her consistent performances helped her to secure a berth in the senior camp.

She won her first senior medal soon when she clinched a silver in Boxam International in Spain. Jaismine continued her form at the Asian Championship in Dubai, where she won a bronze medal. She also trained with her inspiration, Mary Kom, at this time.

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The Haryana-based boxer switched to the 60kg category later and beat 2018 World Championship bronze medal winner Simranjeet Kaur in the trials of the same tournament. She later defeated 2022 World Championship bronze medal winner Parveen Hooda in the Commonwealth Games 2022 trials, which helped her to book a spot on the Indian contingent.

Since then, she has made her debut at the CWG 2022 and secured a medal for the country already. Jaismine is now looking forward to clinching the gold medal, however, only time will tell whether she will make it to the top or not.