New Delhi, Sep 16 (PTI) Boxer Parveen Hooda is heading back to the Asian Games chasing a medal she once won but can no longer call her own, hoping to replace the bronze taken away from her due to a ban with another podium finish.
The Indian pugilist won that bronze in the 57kg category in the Hangzhou Games in 2023, along with an Olympic quota for India, only to lose both after being handed a suspension. Since then, Parveen’s comeback has involved one adjustment after another — a new weight class, a coupe of injuries, another move up and a quarterfinal exit at the Commonwealth Games.
“Of course, yes,” the 26-year-old told PTI when asked if she has unfinished business at the Asian Games.
The bronze has been gone for nearly two years. The memory of winning it has not. Neither has the feeling of what followed.
Parveen was suspended by WADA for 22 months in May 2024 after three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period. The suspension, later backdated by 14 months, cost her the Asian Games medal and the Olympic quota she had secured for India.
Her return has since been less about picking up where she left off and more about finding a new way forward.
When she came back to international boxing in November last year, the 57kg category was no longer hers to reclaim. Jaismine Lamboria had won India’s Paris Olympic quota in the weight class and then gone on to claim the World Championship title.
So Parveen moved to 60kg.
She made the switch look seamless at the World Cup Final, winning gold. But another turn soon followed. An injury forced her to miss the Asian Championships earlier this year, where Priya Ghanghas won the 60kg title and earned a direct Commonwealth Games qualification.
Parveen had to move again.
This time it was 65kg, the only feasible available slot in India’s Commonwealth Games team and the highest weight category she had competed in.
The quarterfinal exit in Glasgow showed just how different the challenge was.
“CWG was my first major competition in this weight category. There was some weight issue and strength was also low because this is a higher weight category than what I used to compete in,” she said.
“I have worked on the mistakes I made then. But now I feel better in this weight,” she said.
The changes have come thick and fast: from a suspension that took away her biggest international achievement, to losing her old weight category, then an injury and another move up.
Through it all, the target has remained largely unchanged.
“My aim is to do better than the level I was before,” Parveen said.
There is little illusion about what awaits her in Japan. The Asian Games will bring a tough field, and Parveen knows she will need to make the 65kg category work for her rather than simply adapt to it.
“Competition will be tough at the Asian Games. My long range is strong, so I’m working on short range and medium range,” she said.
Her training, too, has been adjusted to the challenge.
“Training is going well. The coaches have planned programs according to our game and also keeping in mind the opponents that will be there at the Asian Games,” she said.
For Parveen, another medal in Japan would not undo what happened in Hangzhou. But it could give her a new one to hold on to earned after a comeback that has demanded almost constant adjustment.
And perhaps, in its own way, help settle the unfinished business she carries back to the Asian Games. PTI APA BS BS
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