Khelo India 2019, Boxing: Rajasthan’s boxing gold medallist Arundhati has come a long way from punching out boys as a youngster

Pune, January 19: From beating boys in the school to winning international medals in boxing, Rajasthan’s Arundhati Choudhary has come a long way.

In Khelo India Youth Games, the first gold medal in boxing for Rajasthan came in girls’ U-17 age group through Arundhati.

The 16-year-old comfortably overcame Prajal Yadav’s (Haryana) challenge in the final with 5-0. The way Arundhati went all out to win the bout was quite impressive.

When asked what made her play her hearts out, she said,

“My father Suresh Choudhary has taught me one thing, that play every match like it’s your last match. I never take any bout lightly and put my best effort in each and every tournament.”

No wonder the 16-year-old has been winning at the national and international level consistently.

Arundhati has won two gold medals in Serbia, one during 7th Nations Cup and another one in an invitational tournament.

She also won a gold in Ukraine Memorial Cup tournament and another gold at the All India SAI National Tournament in 2018.

Like the Dangal girls, Geeta and Babita Phogat, Arundhati was also quite aggressive during her school days.

“I remember that I used to beat the boys and my father was called by my principal a few times. I should have taken up boxing up then but I was quite taller than other girls so our physical education teacher put me in the basketball team,” she said.

For Springdale School in Kota, Arundhati played a few district-level basketball tournaments and was also selected to represent the state in the sport, but she refused to participate and shifted her focus to boxing.

“My father always wanted me to play an individual sport. So, he convinced me to quit basketball and take up another sport. Boxing was my natural choice due to my aggressive behaviour so he enrolled me in the boxing academy,” she said.

Even in the academy, Arundhati again started beating the boys, as very few girls in Kota were into boxing and she had no option but to train with boys.

This is one girl, no one dares to take on. For she has a power-packed punch.

She smiles and says,

“My coaches also feel that I have a power punch and I can knock out any player, even boys.” And, these punches win her medals.