Haryana girls win two golds at world boxing event

A STAR-STUDDED WhatsApp group of Bhiwani's boxing stalwarts has been buzzing since early Sunday morning with congratulatory messages for three-time national champion Parminder Lamboriya, whose niece, Jasmine Lamboriya, upheld the region's proud boxing legacy by winning the gold medal in the 57-kg weight category at the 2025 World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, early on Sunday morning (India time).

- NITIN SHARMA

Among the first to send a text applauding the tall 24-year-old, who stunned Paris Olympic silver medalist Julia Szeremeta of Poland with a commanding 4-1 verdict, was Bhiwani's most famous son—the 2008 Beijing Games bronze medalist Vijender Singh. Olympians Akhil Kumar and Jai Bhagwan, too, welcomed the latest entrant to Bhiwani's Hall of Fame with happy emojis.

Not too far from Bhiwani, another Haryana district was readying for festivities. Minakshi Hooda, another lanky 24-year-old from Rurkee Kiloi village in Rohtak district, climbed to the top of the podium at Liverpool in the 48-kg category, out-punching Paris Olympics bronze medalist Nazym Kyzaibay from Kazakhstan, later in the day.

For Minakshi, whose father ferries passengers in his second-hand auto-rickshaw in Rohtak to make ends meet, it was a fairytale ending. "Meri chhori duniya jeetegi. (My daughter will conquer the world)," her father, Srikrishna, said after her win in the quarter-finals earlier. And Minakshi, a constable with the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), did exactly that.