Gurugram: In the dusty boxing rings of Haryana’s Bhiwani, where children have been shadow-boxing along dirt tracks for four decades, the 2026 Commonwealth Games have brought a result that even this town of champions had not managed before.
On Saturday, five boxers from Bhiwani—four women and a man—climbed the podium in Glasgow—winning five of the seven gold medals that Indian boxers have won at the tournament. India now has the highest-ever number of boxing golds at a single edition of Commonwealth Games.
Bhiwani has borne the nickname “mini Cuba” since the 1970s—a nod to the boxing-mad Caribbean island nation—for the sheer density of champions it has produced out of a population of a few lakhs. The Commonwealth gold haul is the clearest evidence yet that the tag still holds.
Sakshi Chaudhary (51 kg), Preeti Pawar (54 kg), Jaismine Lamboria (57kg), Priya Ghanghas (60 kg) and Sachin Siwach (60 kg) are Bhiwani’s new champions.
A legacy, 40 years in the making
The “mini Cuba” nickname traces back to Captain Hawa Singh Sheoran, a boxer who dominated the national heavyweight category for 11 straight years in 1960s-70s, and went on to set up a coaching academy in Bhiwani after retiring in 1986.
His academy, and Olympian Mehtab Singh before him, planted the first seeds.
However, the person responsible for turning the town into a boxer factory was coach Jagdish Singh, who ran the Sports Authority of India centre in Bhiwani starting 1996 and founded the Bhiwani Boxing Club in 2003.
Four of India’s five boxers at the 2008 Beijing Olympics had trained under him, including Vijender Singh, who won India’s first Olympic boxing medal—a bronze. Akhil Kumar, Jitender Kumar, Vikas Krishan Yadav, Dinesh Kumar and Kavita Chahal all passed through the same gym.
Among the new champions, Sakshi and Sachin both trained at the Bhiwani Boxing Club. Sakshi trained under Jagdish Singh Tarar directly, while Sachin started out at the Captain Hawa Singh Academy under coach Sanjay Sheoran—Hawa Singh’s son—before moving through the ranks. Sachin, interestingly, is Vijender Singh’s nephew, and it was his uncle Pawan Siwach who had first pushed him towards the sport.
Sakshi,Priya and Jaismine hail from Dhanana village in Bhiwani district—the same village that produced 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Nitu Ghanghas.
Priya began training under former national champion Ravi Sangwan—who also coached Olympic shooter Manu Bhaker before she switched disciplines—and later moved to the SAI centre in Bhiwani under coaches Mahavir Singh and Naveen Sharma.
Jaismine comes from a family of boxers. Her grandfather was a wrestler, and she was trained by her uncles Sandeep Singh and Parvinder Singh—both national champions themselves.
Celebrations back home
News of the sweep has set off celebrations across Bhiwani district. In Dhanana, Priya’s family and other villagers burst firecrackers as the result came in. Her father Mahendra told mediapersons that the whole village would give her a grand welcome on her return.
Sakshi’s family also marked her win with sweets.
Preeti, a Naib Subedar in the Indian Army whose father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all wrestlers from Badesra village in Bhiwani, had promised her family before leaving for Scotland that she would return with a medal.
Jaismine, also serving in the army, dedicated her medal to the nation, her coaches and her family after the win.
Part of a bigger haul for Haryana boxers
Bhiwani’s five golds come as part of a broader medal sweep by Haryana boxers in Glasgow.
Ankush Panghal, from Bheriya village in Hisar, won the gold in the men’s 80kg category. His father Suresh used to take him 15 kilometres away from their village for practice, when he began training for the sport at age of 11.
Narender Berwal, from Hansi in Hisar district, lost the men’s 90 kg+ final to England’s Delicious Orie, and had to settle for silver.
Together, the medals took India’s overall boxing tally at the Games to a record 10 medals, including seven golds and three silvers.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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