Hisar: Coach Pradeep Sawant credited precise planning and tactical adaptations under pressure after his ward Ankush Panghal won the men’s 80kg boxing gold at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, fulfilling Sawant’s own unfinished dream from 2010.
Ankush recovered after losing the opening round on most judges’ scorecards before dominating the remaining two rounds with aggressive combinations and sharp counter-attacks to secure India’s seventh boxing gold medal of the Games.
Reflecting on the victory, Sawant said they had prepared specifically for England and Canada, whom they considered the biggest threats in the competition.
“Ankush came to me when he was 11 years old… We had already planned that only England and Canada would be in the Commonwealth Games, which will give you tough competition, as in the boxing World Cup final, he lost to England. In the first round, he got a cut on his eyebrow and lost. But this time, we made sure the preparation is good,” Pradeep told IANS.
“We had planned how to defeat him (Shittu Dimeji), as you can see in CWG final bout; he lost the first round by 5-0. Despite that, he changed the strategy. I talked to him for hours about it, and after that he had to change the plan from round to round. He played accordingly and took the bout in his favour. He followed my strategy and became the champion,” he added.
Sawant said he had expected Ankush to reach the final but believed the semifinal against Canada’s boxer would be equally demanding.
“I knew that Ankush is a champion and will go to the final. But it was a semi-final match against Canada, which was tough. Canada has a good boxer. This bout will be tough. This and the final bout will be tough, so we planned accordingly for that. We talked on the phone. We had a video call. We had an audio call. We prepared accordingly, and the result came in our favour,” he said.
The coach also described Ankush’s triumph as the fulfilment of a personal dream after mentoring him from a young age.
“I am very happy to see Ankush’s success. He came to me when he was 10 years old, and I told his mother that I would take care of him. What I was not able to do in 2010, Ankush has done and fulfilled my dream,” he said.
Looking ahead, Sawant shifted his focus to the Asian Games, where he expects a tougher challenge. “Now we are planning for the Asian Games as it is tougher than the Commonwealth Games. Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan that are Asian greats, will be there, and it will be difficult to beat them,” he added.
Ankush’s mother recalled her son’s disciplined lifestyle and credited his simple diet and relentless work ethic for his success.
“I watched the match. He was very good. I told him to win the gold medal. He won it, and it feels amazing. Ankush used to eat malpua, milk, curd, anything he could find. He used to eat desi food, which kept him strong. Ankush used to wake up at 4 am, go to running, and then practice. He was focused on sport only and didn’t involve himself in other things.”
His father, Mukesh Kumar, said sport had always been a part of the family and revealed that Ankush initially wanted to pursue kabaddi before eventually choosing boxing.
“There was an environment of sport in the family. I used to play Kabaddi, which helped my son. I used to take care of his diet and practice. Ankush will receive a grand welcome when he comes home. Ankush was first interested in Kabaddi but later shifted to Boxing,” he said.
