Youth champion in 64kg, upcoming star boxer Vinka now wants to be a world-beater in 60kg
The boxer is raring for another gold at the Youth World Championship in Poland
Bricks and tractor tyres. This was all Indian boxer Vinka had during the lockdown to work on her fitness regime. But what more do you require when your primary tools are perseverance and sincerity.
Vinka won the gold medal in 64kg at the ASBC Youth Asian Men & Women Championship Mongolia, 2019. But now she had set herself a target to reduce her weight and conquer the 60kg category as well. With no access to gyms, she started a weight-loss crusade with the meagre tools that the 18-year-old could manage in her house in the village of Simla Molana, Panipat.
"I used to wake up at 4 in the morning during the lockdown. I thought it would get over by one month, but when it got extended I had to improvise. I would climb up the stairs with bricks and run with tractor tyres tied to my back in the wheat fields near my house. Whereas, in the evening I would follow the routine set by my coaches," stated the boxer during a chat with Olympic Channel.
Daughter of an auto-rickshaw driver, the primary incentive to play a sport was to get a waiver on her school fees.
"I was studying in my village school, but then I said to my father that I want to go out and study in Panipat. If you become a national-level champion then you don't have to pay your school fees. Aur meri zid bhi thi ke Panipat jaana hai. (I was stubborn that I wanted to go to Panipat)."
But Vinka did not opt for boxing once she enrolled into Arya Balika Vidyalaya in Panipat. She was a goalkeeper in hockey and became a national champion playing for Haryana. However, she gave up the sport in 2015, after she was blamed for a defeat.
"In hockey also I won gold and my first target was met, as my fees got waived off. But hockey is a team game. Even if you give your best, you are not guaranteed a medal. Then I opted for boxing, as it was an individual sport and I was solely responsible for the result."
But venturing into boxing was not an easy decision. When she was seven she fell from the first floor of her house and had to get 25 stitches in her head. The doctor had warned that she may not be able to any sport that can cause a head injury.
"There was a lot of family pressure to continue with hockey. They did not know where would I train in boxing. My father was also concerned that I would get hurt and hence it is better to play hockey."
After a lot of effort, they found a coach 15km away from their house at the Shivaji Stadium.
"But he refused to train me at first, as he used to train only boys. But I was very stubborn. After pleading a lot with him he agreed and I started going there every evening. I worked very hard and when he saw my efforts he started supporting me even more. My father always felt that I would leave boxing in one or two months. He thought this is just a passing fling that would fade with time. Then the Sarpanch also started saying that it's not right for a girl to do these things.
"I was coming back late at night around 9 pm and people started talking about that. Ladki itni raat ko kya karke aa rahi hai bahar sey? (Why does a girl return so late at night? What does she do?) Then the relatives also joined the bandwagon. They started saying that what if her face gets hurt and then nobody marries."
To keep the critics at bay, her father would stay during the training session and return with her.
Soon she started making a name for herself on the domestic circuit and started raking in medals in Junior National Boxing Championship, Khelo India Games, National School Games to name a few.
But due to a delay in her passport, she could not travel to Serbia for what would have been her very first international tournament.
"That was a huge disappointment. But I made up for it with another gold in the next tournament in the same country. I had no burden of expectation going into my first international final. I thought I had struggled so much to reach here, ab toh main maar loongi (I will hit hard). The opponent was a Serbian and she was competing at home. Yet I won 5-0. "
But the crowning glory was the gold medal that she won in the ASBC tournament in Mongolia, 2019.
"That was my first Asian competition. I was very anxious. Before the first bout, I was very scared. But once I stepped onto the ring, I forgot everything. I won the round 5-3. In the net round, I faced Kazakhstan, and I had previously lost to that boxer. So there was pressure. Yet I won the round 4-1. She was relying on cross punches a lot. Therefore, I started punching straight, after blocking with my shoulder. This strategy worked wonders.
"In the finals, I faced China. The girl was so tall, that before the bout I was measuring my height against her. I just reached her shoulders. I started attacking right from the first whistle and never stepped back. Main cha gayi th uski upar (I was completely all over her)."
She had started 2021 on an equally bright note. In the Adriatic Pearl Tournament in Montenegro, she not only won gold in the 60kg category, but was also adjudged as the best boxer of the competition. She is currently preparing herself for the upcoming Youth World Championship 2021 that is going to be held in Kielce, Poland from April 10.
But according to her, these are small steps that would finally culminate in Paris 2024. Only a gold medal at the Olympics will make the sacrifices of her family worth it.
"Sapna nahi, zid hai woh". (Not a dream, it's a resolution)