ASHISH KUMAR: The Burning Ray of Hope

“It’s (becoming an Olympian) everything for me. It’s the ultimate dream for any sportsman and I share this same dream”: Ashish Kumar 

ASHISH KUMAR

Getting the opportunity to compete in the Olympics has always been the dream of his late father and our prodigy boxer fulfilled it by booking his berth for Tokyo 2021 through Asian boxing Olympic Qualifiers. 

To the Roots: Early Life 

Kumar was born into a family of sports background, in Himachal Pradesh. His father was a former National level Kabaddi player and his three elder brothers and cousin pursued boxing. It was watching his national medallist cousin train that motivated the young Ashish Kumar to enter the ring. The youngster dreamt of becoming like his cousin and that dream evolved when he was sent to the Sundarnagar Boxing Club to get his first training at the age of 14. Two years later he shifted to Bhiwani, the hometown of Olympic Bronze medalist Vijendra Singh, to focus on his training severely.

Stepping into the Limelight: 

Success Story this youthful boxer's career began to rise to glory from a very young age. He started flourishing at the junior level soon after and got a gold medal at a junior state competition in 2008-09. The Junior Nationals followed soon where he made it to the quarters. After bagging a bronze at the School Nationals, he competed in the Youth Nationals in 2012. That same year, he played the Senior Nationals for the very first time and it was since then that he continued to be in the 75kg category. His inaugural gold medal in 75kg was at the National Games in 2015. In 2018, he achieved bronze at the Nationals and another bronze from the Asian Games Test event. He made it to the quarter-finals of the India Open that same year and also participated in the President’s Cup. In 2019 he played in International Boxing Tournament in Strandja, Bulgaria. Later that year, he succeeded to get his first international Gold medal in the Middleweight category while representing India at the Thailand Open. This achievement confirmed his participation at his first-ever World Boxing Championships but unfortunately, he was knocked out of the tournament after succumbing to Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatihan of China in the 75kg Middleweight category held in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Kumar won the silver medal at the 2019 Asian Amateur Boxing Championship in Bangkok in the middleweight category. In March 2020, Kumar entered the semifinals of the 2020 Asia & Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament in Amman and grabbed a seat for himself in the 2020 Summer Olympics.

 EndNote: Conclusion 

It was a grim situation for this Tokyo-bound boxer, Ashish Kumar, as he contracted Covid-19 in Spain, on the eve of the Boxing International final in Castellon in March. “I was allowed to step outside, but not too far away from my room after a certain period. I was running, back and forth. I was also doing shadow boxing and some weight training in my room. That has certainly kept me fresh. I could not watch TV as all the channels were in Spanish,” Ashish Kumar told the New Indian Express. After surviving the testing quarantine period in Spain, this Biriyani-loving Himachal Pradesh boxer has now returned home after recovering from the dreaded virus. Ashish Kumar's clean aggressive boxing style captures the eyes of many. The towering fighter closes his opponents with his guards down, relying majorly on his big wings that keep others at bay, and this will surely enforce every Indian to fix their eyes on this young, fearless, and confident pugilist in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and applaud him to victory as he has already said, “I am confident I will achieve this dream one hundred percent.” We, the crew members of KheLoVerse wish him all the very best for his prosperous future life.

Watch ASHISH KUMAR on our YouTube channel