Amit Panghal continues to train hard amid Coronavirus scare

The 24-year-old boxer is one of India's brightest medal prospects at the Tokyo Olympics.

The Olympic Games have been postponed to July-August 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, Indian boxer Amit Panghal is putting in the hard yards back in his village in Haryana.

Amit Panghal is one of the nine athletes from the Indian boxing contingent who have qualified for the mega-tournament that was earlier scheduled to take place later this year. He will fight in the 52 kg weight category.

This delay and the ongoing lockdown in the country have affected the preparations of these sportspeople. Currently, The Haryana based boxer is honing his skills in the indoor hall at a university under the guidance of his childhood coach.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Amit Panghal said, “There is an indoor hall at Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak – barely 5km from my house – that I use for training. The university is closed but they have allowed me to use their facility.”

The 24-year-old also emphasized what his routine looks like these days as he seems to have improvised a pattern under the instructions of chief boxing coach Santiago Nieva.

He remarked, “There is no one to disturb me and I can do my routine in isolation. I also do some exercises in the open in my village. It reminds me of my childhood days when I started boxing. I train for close to five hours spread across two sessions in the morning and evening, all of it being indoors. I stretch for 30 minutes, jog and warm-up, then do pads, punching bag and finally abdominal exercises and relaxation.”

Amit Panghal acquired the qualification to the Olympic Games through the Asian boxing Olympic qualifiers that were held in Amman, Jordan in March. He seems to be determined and strong-willed to bag a medal in Tokyo, as he stated, “The ultimate dream is to win an Olympic medal for my country.”

Ajay Panghal is Amit’s brother and he too seems to be fairly engrossed into the latter’s preparations for the major event. Speaking to Sportstar, Ajay observed, “He is training at home and there is no lack of intent. The key is to keep engaging in physical activity and be mentally focussed. He is doing everything to keep himself in shape and is keeping himself busy.”

He also added, “Qualifying for Tokyo was a dream come true and a lot of hard work, some technical and mental adjustments were done. Now the goal is to win a medal at the Games.”

Amit Panghal bagged the silver medal in the 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships in the flyweight division. That tournament was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Accordingly, his achievement over there spiralled up the hopes and aspirations regarding him to repeat a similarly remarkable feat in Tokyo.