Hard work pays, says gold medallist Alfiya

 

 

IT WAS sort of exposure tour for Alfiya Pathan. But the hard-working Nagpur pugilist converted it into a golden moment. Playing her maiden senior international boxing championship city’s golden girl Alfiya clinched a gold medal in the Elorda Cup in Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan on Monday.

The yellow metal was more special as Alfiya completely dominated the competition with one-sided victories.

The reigning World Youth Champion Alfiya, who moved into the senior category recently, defeated 2016 world champion Lazzat Kungeibayeva of Kazakhstan by 5-0 margin without breaking a sweat in the women’s +81kg final.

“Hard work pays,” was the immediate reply from Alfiya when asked about her dream tournament.

“It was a good fight (in the final). I played to a plan and succeeded,” Alfiya told this scribe from Nur-Sultan after winning the title.

She was so powerful that referee had to stop the bout with an RSC in the semi-finals.

“I never thought that I would win the semis against Valeria Axenova of Kazakhstan by RSC. I got the opportunity and landed my punches at the right place,” said Alfiya who trains with NIS boxing coach Ganesh Purohit.

The plan for the final was simple. “I wanted to give my best. I was not under any pressure as such but wanted to give my best and win the gold. My confidence grew after the semis victory and that helped me in the final,” she explained.

Alfiya was never in the scheme of things for this tour.

“After appearing for my Boards I was at the academy and was not really preparing for this tournament. It was only because of Sports Authority of India (SAI) who decided to send me on this exposure tour.

Whatever time I got to practice I worked hard. I thank SAI and all officials for giving me this opportunity, concluded Alfiya.