From practising in the ring, bringing laurels to the country in many national and international events to grooming budding talent, Nagisetty Usha has come a long way.
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She took penchant in boxing seeing her father N.V. Ramana, a boxer of national repute, in the ring and it soon became her passion. And she never looked back.
Ms. Usha, who took professional boxing as a career at the age of 16, received the prestigious Dhyan Chand award this year in the lifetime achievement in sports and games category. She earned the distinction of the first women to receive the award in the boxing category and the first sportsperson from the State to achieve the feat.
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Born, brought up and trained in the city, the 36-year-old pugilist, started her journey to success in 2001 after Dronacharya awardee coach I. Venkateswara Rao spotted her natural
Between 2004 and 2010, she won six national gold medals in the featherweight category. In 2006 and 2008, she bagged silver medals at the World Championships and a gold medal in the Asian championship. She also won a gold in the Indo-Euro invitation cup held in Denmark in 2009.
“I was motivated by Mary Kom and Laila Ali, daughter of global icon Mohammed Ali. Receiving this prestigious award is an achievement. But, I owe it to my father who introduced me to the sport. I thank all my coaches and my employers at East Coast Railway for the love and support they have showered on me,” says Ms. Usha.
Her biggest setback came when she missed the Olympics in 2012 due to knee and neck injuries. Ms. Usha joined the Indian Railway in 2008 and was posted in Diesel Loco Shed of the East Coast Railway, Waltair Division.
She bid goodbye to ring as a player, but the passion for the sport prompted her to pursue coaching as a career. She became a coach after finishing her training at National Institute of Sports (NIS) in 2013. Since then, Ms. Usha has been training the national women’s team and the railway women’s team.
“Though not far away from the ring, it is a different journey. Being a coach, I have more responsibility now. I want to see at least one girl trained by me win a medal in the Olympics, which I missed it owing to my injuries. It is my dream now and I am not going to give up on it,” she adds.