Laishram Sarita Devi

Laishram Sarita

Personal information
Full name	Laishram Sarita Devi
Nationality	Indian
Born	(1985-03-01) 1 March 1985 Mayang Imphal, Imphal West, Manipur, India
Height	168 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	60 kg (130 lb)
Sport
Sport	Boxing
Rated at	Lightweight
Club	All India Police
Medal record Women's Boxing Representing  India World Championships 2006 New Delhi – 52 kg 2005 Podolsk – 54 kg 2008 Ningbo – 52 kg Asian Championships 2003 Hisar 2005 Kaohsiung City 2008 Guwahati 2010 Astana 2001 Bangkok Asian Games 2014 Incheon Lightweight Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow Lightweight

Laishram Sarita Devi (born 1 March 1985) is an Indian boxer from Manipur. She is a national champion and a former world champion in the lightweight class.^[1] In 2009, she was awarded Arjuna award by the government of India for her achievements.^[2]

Early life

Sarita Devi was born in Thoubal Khunou Thoubal into an agricultural family as the sixth of eight siblings. She used to spend her time helping her parents in collecting firewood and in the fields, which helped her build the stamina she has today.^[3] Sarita completed her high school in Waithou Mapal High School till the eighth standard and then went to Bal Baidya Mandir, Thoubal to complete her matriculation. She then went to an open-school to complete her twelfth standard to cope with the busy boxing schedule.^[3]

Career

Devi turned professional in boxing in 2000, inspired by the achievements of Muhammad Ali. The following year, she represented India at the Asian Boxing Championships in Bangkok, and won a silver medal in her weight class.^[4] Following this victory, she won medals in various tournaments, including a gold at the 2006 World Championships in New Delhi. She also won the silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.^[5]

2014 Asian Games controversy

Devi entered the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, competing in the lightweight category. With a win margin of 3–0 both in the Round of 16 and Quarterfinals, she entered the semifinals to face South Korea's Park Ji-Na on September 30. After the match, she was handed a 0–3 defeat verdict by the judges of the match, which turned out to be hugely controversial, considering that Devi had knocked Park out in the third round and also a convincing fourth round, before having rained heavy blows on Park throughout the first two rounds.^[6][7] Following this, the Indian team lodged a protest against the decision, which was rejected by the AIBA's technical committee.^[8] At the medal awarding ceremony, Devi refused to accept her bronze medal and handed it over to the silver medallist, Park.^[9] However, she accepted the medal later.^[10] This was followed by provisional suspension of Devi and her coaches by the AIBA, barring from participating in the AIBA's events until further notice.^[11]

AIBA President, Wu Ching-kuo said that Sarita could be given heavy punishment for refusing to accept the bronze medal at the Asian Games.^[12][13][14]

References