PTI
New Delhi, August 23: MC Mary Kom’s ‘sparring partner’, ‘father figure’ to L Sarita Devi during her 2014 Asian Games meltdown, this year’s Dronacharya awardee in boxing Sagar Mal Dayal has been a man with many roles in his 10-year coaching stint with India’s women pugilists.
The 48-year-old little-known coach based in Jaipur will be conferred the honour at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, August 29. Dayal, a boxer himself before becoming a coach in 1995, has been on the Indian Railways roster for more than 20 years and came on board as the support staff of the national women’s boxing team 10 years ago.
“I am thankful for this honour, especially to the women boxers, who thought I deserved it. I have worked with a lot of them, from Mary Kom to Pinki Rani (Commonwealth Games bronze medallist),” Dayal stated Tuesday.
He has largely been understated in his coaching career except for the infamous 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, where Sarita Devi hit the international headlines for refusing to accept her bronze medal after a controversial semifinal loss. Dayal recalled how he had stood alongside Sarita at that moment, a claim acknowledged by the boxer herself.
“It was a sad episode, I admit I had also become very aggressive, to an extent abusive, but such was the situation. I was her coach, the person responsible for our women boxers there, I had to stand by her, I couldn’t have left her. She is a very gentle girl,” said the 1994 batch National Institute of Sports (NIS) coaching course topper.
Along with Sarita, who was banned for a year, Dayal also faced disciplinary charges but was eventually exonerated by the International Boxing Association (AIBA).
“I don’t regret anything. It was my duty to support my boxer there. When I saw her crying there in front of the judges, I felt how a father would feel for his daughter. It was an emotional moment,” remembered Dayal.
“I have been a sparring partner both for Sarita as well as Mary Kom. I was with Mary Kom when she won her world title for the fifth time. That was one of the high points of my career,” added Dayal.