India, Aug. 10 -- A little over a month before the selection trials for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in May this year, boxer Sakshi Chaudhary called coach Chhote Lal Yadav at the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune with a potentially career-altering request.

"She wanted to cut weight," Yadav said. "It's a line a coach dreads because we know how excruciating it is for an athlete. And here she was, almost volunteering to go through the grind."

Having boxed all her senior career in 54kg, moving down a category wasn't an easy choice for Sakshi. Preeti Pawar, by virtue of winning the 2026 Asian Championships, had already booked her CWG and Asian Games berth in the 54kg division while Jaismine Lamboria occupied the 57kg class.

"Wit...