From shoulder injury to World Championship bronze - A look at Nishant Dev's incredible journey
Nishant Dev won the bronze medal in the 2023 Boxing World Championship, one of India's three medal winners, all coming in the same colour. Meanwhile, here is his incredible journey so far.
FollowNishant Dev had put up a brave show in his international debut at the 2021 World Championship, one that had earned him plaudits from everyone, but he was disheartened to miss a medal by a whisker. On top of that, he suffered a broken nose and was also battling acute shoulder pain.
The youngster was, however, determined to prove himself and win a World Championship medal. On Friday, he achieved the feat by winning the light middleweight (71kg) bronze in Tashkent. The medal is a testament to Nishant's never-say-die attitude as the 22-year-old has endured a challenging couple of years to reach here.
"He never showed us that he was sad after losing the World Championship medal last time. He was always positive. He broke his nose at the World Championships and had shoulder pain. When he joined the camp in Patiala, the pain increased," Nishant's father Pawan told PTI. On getting his shoulder checked, Nishant discovered the pain was due to an old injury. When he was nine years old, Nishant had fallen down the stairs. A rod was inserted into his shoulder at the time. More than ten years later, the rod had been infected.
"He was in a lot of pain, so he got a surgery done, and Nishant had to rest for over nine months," recalled Pawan. Even during his rehabilitation period, the young pugilist never let his parents know of the doubts and insecurities that crossed his mind. He quietly worked on his strength, power and conditioning. After two months of training, he defended his National Championship title earlier this year.
"This period between the two world championships has been tough on him. But he never accepted defeat. He always looked at the bright side. He would always say to us I have to recover fast so I can win again'," said Pawan. Born in Karnal to a Zamindar father and a homemaker mother, Nishant enjoyed participating in various sports events as a child.
"He used to participate in all the games in school, 100m, 200m and skating. Once, he was participating in a skating competition, and one of the wheels of his skate came off just before the race. But he didn't care about it and went on to win the race. He was never low on confidence and always had clarity of thought. He does whatever it takes to complete his goal," recalled Pawan.
Nishant was exposed to boxing early as his maternal uncle was a professional boxer in Germany. But after watching Manoj Kumar win the gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, he decided to pursue boxing seriously. "His mama [uncle] did professional boxing in Germany. I wanted him to play lawn tennis, but in 2010 CWG, when Manoj Kumar's gold medal came, he told us I want to do boxing'," Pawan remembered.
Nishant started training at the Karan stadium under coach Surender Chauhan. "For the training, he was the one who used to wake me up. We would line up at the stadium at 5 am. He would return by 7:30 am, bathe, and run for school. And then again, after lunch, we would rush for practice," concluded Pawan.
At the ongoing Worlds, he has put up an impressive performance. Nishant has been relentless in his attack, which helped him upstage 2021 World Championships bronze medallist Sarkhan Aliyev of Azerbaijan in the opening round.
