Alfiya wins Asian Boxing C’ship gold

 By Paritosh Pramanik

TALENTED boxer of city Alfiya Akram Pathan punched above her weight to win gold medal at the ASBC Asian Junior Championships 2019 at Fujairah, Dubai, UAE, on Friday. After missing the gold medal by a whisker at Serbia meet earlier this year, Alfiya made it sure she did not miss it this time.
Participating in 80+ weight category, 16-year-old Alfiya thrashed Magauyayeva Diana of Kazakhastan to clinch the yellow metal with utmost ease.
Alfiya, who earlier won a silver and a bronze at Serbia, had a bye in the first round and met the Kazakh opponent in the final bout which she won hands down with a 5-0 favourable verdict.
Being the last tournament for her in junior category, Alfiya made most of the opportunity. She was eager to leave the junior category on a promising note which she did with a gold medal.
Alfiya, whose father Akram works with City Police Department, was extremely happy with her gold winning performance.
“I am super happy with my performance. This gold means a lot to me. I have worked really very hard for this. Today, my hard work paid off. Being away from home (she practised at SAI Rohtak) and training day in day out...for this piece of gold. It means a lot,” Alfiya told ‘The Hitavada’ from Dubai.
“The experience of playing the Asian championship was great. This was my last year in junior category. For me it was a major competition before I changed my category. I gained lot from this tour and it will definitely help me in youth category,” said Alfiya.
Alfiya said, though she played only one match, the competition was tough. It was a tough game. But I played as per plan and waited for my opportunities. I was waiting for this competition for the last two years. It did not take place last year. I wanted to make sure I did not miss on this opportunity. Aman (coach Amanpreet) mam trained me well for this tournament. Now I will have to work much harder in the youth category. I want to win many more medals for the country,” she said.
Alfiya thanked all those who helped her in her journey. I want to thank my parents. My father really worked very hard, spent a lot of time on me to see me reach this level. My formative days’ coach Ganesh Purohit, Aman madam, my personal trainer Guddu Thakur....all have worked really hard on me at Khelo India camp. I would like to thank all of them from the bottom of my heart.” said Alfiya.
Jay Kowli, President of Maharashtra Boxing Association, Sajjad Husain, Vice-President, Porus Kotwal, Secretary, The Nagpur District Boxing Association, selectors Captain Gopal Dewang, Captain Jayram, Dayashankar Tiwari, President, NCBA congratulated Alfiya.