New Delhi, April 18 -- Even at the age of 10, Priya Ghanghas knew she wanted to pursue sport. Any sport. Her father Mahendra had been a kabaddi player, and Priya was fascinated with wrestling, but boxing was impossible to escape. Vijender Singh's bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, India's first in the sport, put Haryana's Bhiwani district that Ghanghas hails from, on the map. Her own village, Dhanana, produced two world champions-Sakshi Ghanghas and Nitu Ghanghas.

"I was always interested in sports, but it was not that I wanted to take up boxing only," says the shy 20-year-old. "I wanted to wrestle. There was no wrestling centre in Dadri, but we found a boxing academy and I started in 2016. Vijender's medal inspired us all."

Last week...