From rxpgnews.com
Bored with hockey, India's Jenny took to boxing
By Abhishek Roy, Indo-Asian News Service,
Nov 20, 2006 - 8:39:29 PM
New Delhi, Nov 20 (IANS) Jenny R. Lalranliani, who is representing India at the ongoing World Women's Boxing Championships here, took to the ring only after she was bored with hockey.
The 23-year old boxer had earlier represented Mizoram junior hockey team and also got a call for the junior national camp twice in 1999. But she gave it up once she was bitten by the more physical sport.
'I used to play as a hockey goalkeeper that landed me with a job in Mizoram Police in 2000. But somehow I lost interest in the sport as I felt that it was not challenging for me,' Jenny told IANS in an interview.
Inspired by boxer Laila Ali, daughter of the legendary former world heavyweight champion Mohammed Ali, she took full-time to a sport that was just a pastime for her earlier.
'I always wanted to represent India and felt that in hockey I can never make it to the top level. Laila Ali inspired me because never before I had seen a woman boxer. So I shifted to boxing as I had a liking for the sport anyway,' said Jenny.
'The Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Aizwal started a camp with 15 boxers in 2000 and I was one of them. Now the number has shot up like anything,' she said.
Once she took to the ring, Jenny has not looked back. In her first National Championship in Chennai in 2001, she surprised everyone on her way to the gold medal in the 63 kg category.
In the Asian Championships in Bangkok in the same year Jenny won the silver, and bagged the gold in the Asian Championships in Hissar, Haryana, in 2003.
'Boxing taught me to be disciplined. It is a bloody sport but you get to learn a lot from it. I am proud to represent my country in this sport,' she said.
Talking about the ongoing World Championships here, Jenny, who is taking part in 63kg category, said that it would be tough to repeat her Hissar performance.
'It will be a tough tournament, but we have done our share of hard work. And now we have to perform better against some top teams of the world,' she averred.
'The Europeans will be a tough nut to crack and among the Asians, the North Koreans will pose a stiff challenge. But we are not afraid of them.'
Jenny is clear about the strategy she would adopt against her opponents.
'I know just one thing: I have to go out and hit them straight,' she said.
The diminutive girl from the Mizo hills feel that sport is thriving in northeast India because of the culture in the region.
'Our culture is very similar to that of Europe as there is no difference between a boy and a girl, in the sense that one is looked at as an individual first. So when I took up boxing there was no objection from my family,' she pointed out.
'In fact, we started practicing with the guys only. They used to hit us hard but we also responded in the same way.'
Jenny is a part of India's 13-member team in the World Championship at which about 181 boxers from 31 countries are taking part.
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