Gorkha Boxer who win 1st Asian Gold for India
India's first international boxing gold medallist and Arjuna Awardee Padam Bahadur Mall of Asia's Best Boxer in 1962 Jakarta Asian Games and silver medal in pre-Olympics held in Tokyo. He quit boxing after the sports mandarins did not consider him worthy of representing the country in Rome Olympics. He represented the country for a decade before qualifying as a coach from NIS Patiala. He worked as a coach with Sports Authority of India (SAI) and coached the Indian team from 1988-90.After completion of assignment with SAI, the state sports department under control of Uttar Pradesh government appointed him as the boxing coach at Dehra Dun in 1998. All his requests to increase emoluments went unheeded by successive governments after formation of Uttarakhand. At present, apart from several state level budding boxers aspiring to make it to the top under his guidance, his trainees included junior international Kulwant Singh Barthwal and national level women boxers Reena Kanwar and Pooja Yadav.
India could have won its first Olympic medal way back in 1964, when the boxing squad was sent to Tokyo owing to a rift between the Indian Olympic Association and Indian Amateur Boxing Federation. Dehradun’s own Padam Bahadur Mall was in devastating form and was being considered a medal prospect for the Summer Olympics. It is said that the IOA wanted to send Padam Bahadur Mall alone for the Tokyo Olympics, while the IABF was insisting on a three member team. Both the organisations never reached a compromise and, as a result, no boxer was allowed to participate in the Tokyo Olympics.
Padam Bahadur Mall caught the attention of the world of boxing by winning the first ever boxing Gold medal for the country at the Jakarta Asian Games in 1962. Mall thus became the toast of a nascent sporting nation. He thrashed Kanemura Shiratori of Japan in the final to bring home the Gold and also the Best Boxer’s title, the only Indian to achieve this feat in the Asian Games till date. In 1963, he hogged the limelight again by storming into the final of the pre-Olympics boxing championship in Tokyo. Mall lost to a Japanese boxer 5-3 in a closely contested match. To leave no stone unturned, Padam Bahadur began rigorous training in Delhi for the Tokyo Olympics.
Commenting on this, he says, “I was working in the Army. As a preparation for the Olympics, the Army organised an eight month boxing camp. We were doing all the hard work at the camp. The rift between IOA and IABF cancelled the participation of the boxing team in the Tokyo Games. This is one of the biggest disappointments of my life, to have failed to participate in the Olympics.”
Mall was disappointed when he was not allowed to participate in the Tokyo Olympics. He decided to hang up his boots. After clinching silver in the pre-Olympics (Tokyo), Padam Bahadur was considered a strong contender for an Olympic medal. Sports politics cancelled participation of the boxers and also a golden chance for India to win its first ever Olympic medal in 1964.
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