Boxing
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The Indian army has to be credited for producing some of the best boxers in the country's history, who have packed a punch at the international stage. Army boxer Padam Bahadur Malla was the first Indian boxer to win a gold medal at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta.
Hawa Singh dominated the Indian boxing scene in the heavyweight category in the 60s and 70s. He won the national title for 11 consecutive years from 1961 to 1972. He also won the gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 1966 and 1970 Asian Games.
Gopal Dewang was another boxer of international pedigree who won silver medals in the Asian Boxing championships. Other notable services boxers who were awarded the Arjuna Award for their accomplishments in the sport are M Venu, Mehtab Singh, C. C. Machaiah, Dharmender Singh Yadav and Rajender Prasad.
NK Dingko Singh was one of India’s best pugilist in the 90s. The stocky athlete hailing from Manipur served as a sailor in the Indian Navy. Dingko rose to prominence by winning a gold medal at the King’s Cup Boxing tournament in 1997 at Thailand. He made a mark on the world stage by winning the gold medal in the bantamweight division at the 1998 Asian Games.
Shiva Thapa has been another boxer of world class pedigree, who won a gold medal at the 2013 Asian Boxing championships. Shiva became the youngest boxer to qualify for the Olympics when he made the cut for the 2012 London Olympics. He won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Amateur Boxing championships.
In the last two decades, services boxers like Som Bahadur Pun, Suranjoy Singh, Gurcharan Singh, L Devendro Singh, Verghese Jhonson, Nanao Singh and Narjit Singh have done the nation proud by winning medals at international boxing meets.
