Nagoya: Sumit Kundu had to quit boxing to
work as a security guard and suffered a career-threatening injury on his return
to the sport, but the Indian could cap a remarkable comeback at the Asian
Games.
"I will win a medal for my family,"
the light middleweight told AFP after scoring a unanimous decision with a
dominant display against experienced Thai Bunjong Sinsiri on Monday. "I
will go for gold," added the confident, hard-hitting Sumit, who has dropped
down from his usual 75kg class. Now into the last 16 in the 70kg category, he
faces Iraq's Ali Qasim Hamdan Al-Sarray on Thursday. "It felt good. The
strategy devised by our coaches worked and I did well," he said of his
first win.
The 23-year-old from a village in Haryana
took up boxing around the age of 10, but when his father died suddenly, his
mother had to take up multiple jobs, including tailoring at odd hours, and
could only provide one meal a day. Sumit hung up his gloves to work as a school
security guard, but his mother, brothers, and village elders urged him to
return to boxing. "My family and friends supported me in my training and
everything. Whatever I am it's because of my parents," he said.
He went on to win gold at the 2018 National School Games and 2019 Khelo India Games, reached the quarter-finals of the 2021 World Championship, and won gold at the Thailand Open and bronze at the 2022 Asian Elite Boxing Championships. However, disaster struck in 2023 when an anterior cruciate ligament injury and meniscus tear left him fearing his career was over, causing him to miss the Paris 2024 Olympics. After knee surgery, he spent 18 months in rehab in Mumbai. "That thought did creep into my mind," he admitted, "but my family, my brother and my friends helped me and convinced me to carry on." He returned in 2025 and fought his way onto the Asian Games squad by winning India's trials. "I will win a medal at the Asian Games and return victorious to my family," he said.
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