Nishio, Oct 2 — Indian boxer Parveen Hooda said her ability to reset mentally after a nearly two-year ban and a difficult comeback helped her overcome a series of setbacks and clinch the Asian Games gold medal in the women’s 65 kg category here on Friday.
Parveen, who was banned for 22 months in 2023 for a Whereabouts Clause violation, returned to competition after serving her suspension but endured another painful setback at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where she lost in the quarterfinals.
She also forfeited her bronze medal from the 2022 Asian Games after the ban, making her journey back to the top particularly difficult.
However, instead of allowing those setbacks to define her career, Parveen chose to start again from scratch. On Friday, she defeated Chinese Taipei’s Nien-chin Che to win her first Asian Games gold and add to India’s second women’s boxing gold of the ongoing Games.
“When all that happened to me, I was mentally down. Everything was over. I had to start from zero. I was sad for a few days. Then I reset my mind,” Parveen told reporters after her victory.
"I told myself that if I don’t train now and don’t make a comeback, I will live in regret all my life. Because of a small mistake, so much happened. So I decided to take everything the other way around.”
The 26-year-old also recalled the painful moments after her defeat in Glasgow, where she was left heartbroken while watching her fellow Indian boxers succeed.
“I was standing there and crying. I thought, what’s the point of crying now? Let’s do hard work. Otherwise, I will cry again in the next competition. "So the next day, I got up and did my strength training," I thought. "I will cry as much as I want; I will come laughing in the next competition,” she said.
That mental shift proved crucial on Friday when Parveen found herself in another tight contest. She dominated the opening round 5-0, but Che responded with an identical score in the second. With the gold medal at stake, Parveen kept her composure and edged the final round 3-2.
“In the third round, I had to make a decision. I just remembered that I want to become the deputy director. In Haryana, if I win gold, I will get the role of deputy director. It was my dream job. Then I went and took the round in my favour,” she said.
Parveen said she has learned to remain mentally neutral and focus on her work rather than worrying about the outcome.
“I was feeling bad, but I was grateful for those things that boxing has given me so much. So I thought about the result, as the Gita says: do karma; don’t worry about the result. I thought that I would do my training with all my heart; I give my best. The result will come or not, so I was mentally neutral,” she said.
Calling this phase the “second journey” of her career, Parveen said the difficult experiences had made her stronger and more mature.
“I can say that it is my second journey, but this time I am stronger than before because when we start again, we become more mentally strong. I have become stronger and more mature. I handle my own things, and I don’t depend on others. I have become more mature and mentally strong,” she said.