Priya Ghanghas wins Asian Boxing gold – and Bhiwani has another name to remember

Bhiwani’s grind

For seven years, Priya trained under coach Ravi, a former national champion who also briefly trained Paris Olympics medallist Manu Bhaker, at the Dadri academy, often alongside her elder brother Neeraj. When the pandemic disrupted routines, the family shifted to their native village of Dhanana in Bhiwani district — home to world champions Sakshi and Neetu Ghanghas.

Priya Ghanghas with coach Mahavir Singh. (Pic via Special Arrangement)

In 2022, she joined the Sports Authority of India Training Centre in Bhiwani under Dronacharya awardee Mahavir Singh, a facility that has shaped the careers of Beijing Olympics bronze medallist Vijender Singh, Commonwealth Games champion Akhil Kumar, and Asian Games champion Vikas Krishan. She arrived not even a district champion, training alongside roughly a hundred others.

The results came steadily. A Bhiwani district title, then a Haryana state title in 2023, followed by a bronze at the U19 Asian Championships that same year. A silver at the U22 Asian Championships in Thailand and a bronze at the Thailand Open came the following year, as did a national final appearance in the 57kg category — a bout she lost to Jaismine Lamboriya.

That defeat, her coach recalls, only sharpened her focus. “She told me, ‘Sir, behtar hi hona hai ab’ –I only have to get better from here,” says Mahavir. The decision was made to move her up to 60kg, where her height and physique would be a natural advantage.

Mahavir had worked to correct early technical lapses — a tendency to drop her hands, elbows drifting out of the target zone — before turning attention to physical conditioning.

“Like any Bhiwani boxer, she trained twice a day, two and a half hours each session, focusing on strength and fundamentals. There were days she’d complain. I’d remind her that even the great Cuban Felix Savon — whom I watched at the MRF World Cup in Mumbai in 1990 — built his career the same way: on basics, repeated endlessly.”

Priya Ghanghas (left) with her family. (Pic via Special Arrangement)

A tough draw, a commanding week

At Ulaanbaatar, Priya earned her gold the hard way. She opened against Kazakhstan’s Rimma Volossenko, a World Championships quarter-finalist, winning 5-0. In the quarterfinals, she edged out Chengyu Yang of China — a former world champion and last year’s World Championships bronze medallist at 60kg — by a split 4-1 decision. A 5-0 win over home favourite Namuun Monkhor of Mongolia set up the final, which she won comfortably.

India’s women’s head coach Santiago Nieva was particularly impressed with how Priya managed the demands of a punishing draw.

“The way she started against Volossenko in the first round was tremendous. She did tire in the third round, but the way she paced herself through the next three bouts — finishing strong in each — will do a lot for her confidence,” he said. “Her jab controls the bout, her right hook is a weapon she trusts, and her guard is solid enough to let her work on the inside.”

Priya Ghanghas after winning the title. (BFI Photo)

The road to LA

India finished Thursday with four gold medals — and three of them came in Olympic weight divisions. World champion Minakshi Hooda won the 48kg title 5-0 over Mongolia’s Nomundari Enkh-Amgalan; Preeti Panwar beat three-time world champion and Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Huang Hsiao-wen of Chinese Taipei 5-0 in the 54kg final; and Arundhati claimed the 70kg gold with a 4-1 win over Kazakhstan’s Bakyt Seidish.

For Priya, the target is sharpening what already works. The women’s 60kg category has been part of the Olympics since boxing’s women’s debut at London 2012, and the division is deep — strong challengers from Ireland, France, Brazil and Finland, alongside Asia’s best.

Nieva knows the work ahead. “Over the coming months, the focus will be on refining her pacing — knowing when to push and when to hold back — and exposing her to different styles of boxers. The target now is to build on that.”