By Admin 
For Jaismine Lamboria, the road to redemption took two years.
The boxer had dramatically lost in the second round of a women’s 60kg quarterfinal bout in the Hangzhou Asian Games, held in 2023, squandering a medal and an Olympic quota place in one go. Winning the World title, after upsetting Paris Olympics silver medallist Julia Szeremeta in the women’s 57kg final in Liverpool, helped Jaismine repair her bruised self-belief.
Lifting her game
Following her Asian Games debacle, Jaismine — an Asian Championships and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist — fought back to reclaim the women’s 57kg slot for India in the Paris Olympics after Parveen Hooda was suspended over a doping issue. However, Jaismine’s performance in Paris was not up to the mark, and it prompted the Bhiwani girl to work with grit and lift her game. Her efforts paid off in Liverpool.
Jaismine looks back at those difficult days bravely. “After winning the first round 5-0, losing the bout with a RSC [referee stops contest] decision in the second at the Asian Games was a sad moment. I was not able to focus properly for a couple of months. Sometimes, I was not able to sleep properly. I had a lot of regrets. I have learnt from the Asian Games that no matter whether you win or lose, you should always try to improve,” she said.
Her quest for improvement took a noticeable turn after the Paris Olympics.
“I took a 10-day break after the Paris Olympics. Then I trained with my coaches Chhote Lal and Mohammed Aitesamuddin at the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune for seven-eight months. They planned everything for me, and put me under pressure. I became the National champion. We saw the impact of that in the World Cup and in the World Championships as well.
“The ASI training was very impactful. After coming to the National camp, I was made to continue with that. We were made to understand our mistakes and how we should train to rectify those. I pushed myself on a daily basis — whether I was happy or sad. I worked a lot on my endurance and strength. I worked on my mental health with Vikrant Mahajan as well and learnt a lot. He motivated me well.”
Powering up: Jaismine has worked hard on making her punches more explosive. Her coaches put her through a regimen of strength training and repetitive drills.
| Photo Credit:
Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
The biggest challenge for the gentle-natured Jaismine, a long-range counterpunching southpaw, was to go against her calm, amiable personality and cultivate aggression.
“I lost all my major events because of my nature, that fire is there inside me. I regret several of my past fights. I think I could have done a little better in those and I should not reduce my potential because of this. I changed my mind and decided that I would do whatever it took to improve my game. Now I can easily turn aggressive during a fight. Later, I can return to my normal self. If I have to change my nature to do well in boxing, then so be it.”
Chhote Lal, the talent scout who played a crucial role in recruiting the lanky Jaismine as the first female boxer in the Indian Army, detailed the nature of his ward’s training at the ASI.
“We told her, ‘Keep the opposition under pressure all the time and whenever the rival gives an opportunity, grab it to land your counters.’ This way she could stick to her strength. It is much different from making mindless attacks.
Sharp focus
“There was a lot of stress on strength training and feinting. She used to get tired as she needed to keep moving. There was a lot of work on explosive punches. I made her practise 15 repetitions of one punch for five sets. And there are six punches. Sometimes she used to cry, but never wavered in her focus. Even during her training with male boxers, she never lost her focus,” said Chhote Lal, raving about Jaismine’s technical game.
In order to develop the right kind of game-time attitude, Chhote Lal — who once trained six-time World champion M.C. Mary Kom — said, “Jaismine was asked to treat the rival inside the ring as her biggest enemy and relax outside the ring.”
National head coach D. Chandralal’s methods complemented Jaismine’s training at the ASI. “She is very tender at heart and always wears a smile. She never says no to any work assigned to her. She has a good ability to move clockwise and anti-clockwise. But she needed to work on her muscles and power. She was made aware of her drawbacks, such as waiting too long for the opponent to attack and slow starts. She worked on those areas,” said Chandralal.
Jaismine gave a good account of her improved game as she grew in confidence through the World Championships and showcased her positive body language. She maintained an impressive level throughout the event, which was conducted for the first time under the banner of the new international federation, World Boxing.
“We had a strategy that we must play our own game. We were made to believe that our game was the best and we just needed to maintain our range and listen to the command that comes [from the coaches]. In the final, I thought there was nothing to lose and everything to gain,” said Jaismine.
“At this level, the one who has more confidence wins. I just wanted to show myself how much confidence I had in myself. I wanted to prove myself and make India proud.”
Rooted: Jaismine’s family in Bhiwani has been involved with boxing for generations. Her performance at the World Championships was a source of great pride for her parents.
| Photo Credit:
ANI video grab
Jaismine’s focus now shifts to the next two targets — the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games next year. “I will keep my focus and try to improve myself both mentally and physically. I will work smartly. The Olympics [in 2028] is also one of the targets.”
As the great granddaughter of the iconic Captain Hawa Singh, a two-time Asian Games gold medallist, Jaismine was delighted that two of her extended family, including Hawa Singh’s granddaughter Nupur Sheoran (who landed a silver in the +80kg), climbed the Worlds podium.
Honouring a legacy
“It’s a matter of pride. We are a family. And Nupur didi has kept up that legacy very well,” said Jaismine, one of the four Indian medallists, which include gold winner Minakshi Hooda (48kg) and bronze medallist Pooja Rani (80kg), at the elite event.
Amid the post-Liverpool celebratory mood in her family and in Bhiwani, which is home to three of the four Worlds medallists, it was not lost on Jaismine and Chhote Lal that continuous endeavour is the only way to build on the 24-year-old’s recent success at other high-level competitions in the coming years.
From redemption, Jaismine would love to take the road to reaffirmation.