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District boxing tournament: Rich medal haul for homegrown Malihabad pugilists
Malihabad's Josh Boxing Academy shines with 12 district-level medallists, including Best Boxer at KD Singh Babu Stadium. Coach Saif Ali empowers girls through boxing.
Homegrown boxers of Malihabad produced 12 more district-level medallists, with students of Josh Boxing Academy winning medals at the boxing tournament held at the KD Singh Babu Stadium here.
These 12 medallists – the youngest being 13 years old and the oldest being 19 years old - competed amongst nearly 150 other young boxers at KD Singh Babu Stadium and took home the highest number of medals by an academy.
One Josh Academy student also took home the award for the Best Boxer in the Junior Category. The team won five golds, five silvers and two bronze medals at the tournament, with Anuj Gupta winning Best Boxer.
Mohammad Saif Ali, a retired boxer began training young girls in Malihabad mango orchards, after hearing of the crimes committed against girls in the area, specifically physical harassment. Starting out teaching 15 girls for free, the number of students has now expanded to nearly 90 girls, as well as a few boys.
Once the girls started winning on the national stage with only a few days of training, Mohammad Saif Ali was inundated not only with requests to train other youngsters, but also with sponsorship and funding opportunities.
However, he consciously chooses to train more girls than boys for free. Currently, he trains 35 girls and 5 boys permanently, and 47 more girls who are part-time students.
