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For a boxer who had been inconsistent until not so long ago, this victory is a step in the right direction. A distant relative of boxing great Captain Hawa Singh, Jaismine was destined for this. However, her journey might not have taken off if not for the blessings of her uncles — Sandeep and Parvinder —who had gone against the will of her grandfather, who did not like the idea of Jaismine getting into combat sports.
Both Jaismine and Preeti — who beat Scarlett Savannah Delgado of Canada in the women’s 54kg final — have had their own share of misfortunes in the past. Inconsistency had been holding the former back for long, while Preeti had faced health concerns that had kept her out of the sport. For Jaismine, the Paris Games was the nadir as she exited in the first round. She had had enough and she wanted to recalibrate and find answers.
Barely a few days after the said Olympics got over, she started training at the Army Sports Institute in Pune with determination to find solutions. “She was quite flustered after the Paris Games and she didn’t stay at home for long. She came to me saying ‘I want to come, I want to train. Please make an individual programme for me’,” Army coach Chhote Lal Yadav, who has had a big influence in her game, told The New indian Express.
“It was an off-season then and most boxers were resting. So we worked on many aspects in her game, built her strength and she gradually started winning. Now, there’s a drastic change in her game. Her confidence level is high and that is evident during her matches, the way she handles her rivals and the manner in which she has been scoring points off them,” the coach, who formerly trained MC Mary Kom, recalled.
Going the extra mile started paying dividends. Her results reflected the same. Gold at national championships was followed by gold at World Cup Stage II in Astana. Then came the big one — the world title in Liverpool in 2025. It was a gold medal that helped the country record their best-ever showing in the coveted event. Jaismine hasn’t looked back since then.