WB: Young boxers rejoice as Bhawanipore Boxing Association reopens after two years

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], February 22 (ANI): As the COVID restrictions have been relaxed with the new cases coming down, the Bhawanipore Boxing Association in Kolkata has reopened after two years.
Boxers visiting the training centre were overjoyed to be back in the boxing ring again as they looking forward to picking up from where they left two years back. Speaking to ANI, the young boxers shared their experiences of being away from the ring for this long and the problems they face as they resume their practice.
One of the students who reached the training centre is Sweta Singh, a 14-year-old state sub-junior gold medallist, who plans to take up boxing as a career. She was disappointed when his practice was stopped after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020.
“I am only 14 years old and have not been vaccinated yet. Before COVID, I had played the state championship in which I won a gold medal. After that, I was very disappointed as everything was stopped. I was missing practice and tournaments,” she told ANI.
Recalling her experience during the COVID and lockdowns, the 14-year-old said it is not possible for her to practice at home. She feels it will now be a struggle to resume her training again after two years.
“It is a lot of struggle to begin again after two years. Practice is not possible at home. I get to learn by coming to the ring,” she said.
Expressing gratitude to her coach’s constant support, the 14-year-old said that she now wants to compete at the national level.
Another state sub-junior gold medallist, 14-year-old Purba Pal is also struggling with her game after the two-year break due to the pandemic. She dreams to represent India at the Olympics one day.
“Now that I am back to the ring and in practice, I will try to bring back my old game. After returning to the ring after two years, I am facing a little problem. We will prepare for nationals and internationals now. I dream to play Olympics one day,” Pal told ANI.

Speaking with ANI, Amit Kumar, coach at Bhawanipur Boxing Association, said despite the training centre being shut, he used to get calls from his boxers to talk about the game.
“We have lost two years to the pandemic; away from the ring and the children. They (children) were very stressed and would regularly call me up to ask when the ring would reopen.”
He further informed that all the coaches here had kept in touch with the boxers as much as possible through the internet during the lockdown and had also tried to train them online.
“Now that the ring is open again, the children are very excited and are training harder than before. Three of our children had got gold medals in the state sub-junior championship and our club is in the women’s category,” Kumar said.
The coach informed that children right from age 6 train here at Bhawanipur Boxing Association. There are about 60 to 70 children who come to train every day, he added.
All the equipment for boxing training at the Bhawanipore Boxing Association is free of cost to its students and only Rs 50 is charged as cost training.
“Keeping children engaged with the game for two years was a big challenge. Here children prepare for the state, national, and international levels. There are many children here who are national medalists here. I am a national level medalist and have practised at this club,” Kumar said.
“All the protocols are followed here and only after updating all the medical reports, the children are training. The temperature of children is measured. We follow whatever guidelines are there, but we cannot wear masks during training because that is why we are training outdoors these days,” he added. (ANI)