Chhote Lal’s quiet craft earns him the Dronacharya award

While with Jaismine, he had to rebuild a young boxer after a tough phase; he chose adaptation over a fixed template, chhote Lal's quiet craft earns him the Dronacharya award With Mary Kom, the coach had to extend an established champ's career.

Key points

• Chhote Lal completed his coaching diploma from the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, in 2014, and by 2017 he was working with Mary Kom full-time.
• Mary Kom won the Asian Championships in 2017, followed by Commonwealth Games gold and another World Championships gold the same year.
• As a boxer, Chhote Lal was part of the national setup from 2001 to 2012, progressing through the sub-junior, junior and senior levels.
• Chhote Lal was part of the national camp as a coach from 2017 to 2022.
• The 2017 Asian Championships triumph remains one of Chhote Lal's favourite coaching moments.

Mary Kom's resurgence, Jaismine's world title and Commonwealth Games golds for Sakshi Chaudhary and Arundhati Choudhary are the defining milestones of a journey that began when injury forced Chhote Lal (middle) from the ring to the coaching corner. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement.

From extending the career of legendary champion M.C. Mary Kom to transforming Jaismine Lamboria into a world champion, Chhote Lal Yadav has built his coaching career on understanding what each boxer needs, an approach that has earned him the prestigious Dronacharya Award.

"I am particularly happy but I don't have to stop here. I need to work harder. My aim is that my boxers win 2-3 gold medals at the LA Olympics, " he informed PTI.

But a back and spinal injury in 2012 concluded his hopes of making the Olympics as a boxer. His first serious brush with coaching came that year when he was asked to support Mary Kom for 15-20 days.

"She was a champion before I began training her. My biggest challenge was how to keep a celebrity and champion a champion, " he recalled.

Mary Kom was already a five-time World champion and Olympic medallist by then. Chhote Lal's task was not to teach her how to become a champion but to find ways to keep her one.

He began experimenting with what he called "smart training", tailoring her workload to her age and physical needs.

"It was a challenge for me at that time, I was not sure if it would work, but it did."

In practice, the partnership shortly produced results. Mary Kom won the Asian Championships in 2017, followed by Commonwealth Games gold and another World Championships gold the same year. She additionally qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.

Notably, the 2017 Asian Championships triumph remains one of Chhote Lal's favourite coaching moments.

"Since the 2014 Asian Games gold, Mary hadn't won anything in a major tournament and hadn't qualified for the Olympics either. So to win that created me highly happy."

It additionally underlined a philosophy that has since defined his coaching: there is no one-size-fits-all programme. "I make a personalised training programme for every boxer, " he remarked.

In 2022, he moved away from the national camp to spearhead the Army's women's boxing programme.

With the backing of officers, he began building a group of young boxers. Jaismine was the first recruit, followed by Sakshi and Arundhati.

Meanwhile, the results have been striking. While Sakshi and Arundhati won Commonwealth Games golds earlier this month, jaismine became a World champion last year.

"Chhote sir knows everything regarding women's boxing – how to train, how to recover. He is particularly open-minded, so we are able to share things with him comfortably, " Jaismine stated.

"He makes personalised programmes for everyone. If he doesn't know something, he doesn't assert control. He will take you to the expert in that subject. And he always takes a stand for us."

Jaismine's biggest breakthrough under Chhote Lal came after she missed out on the Paris Olympics and was struggling for confidence.

"He has a massive role in my World Championship title. He worked on my technical and strength training after the Paris Olympics. He changed my game with strength, " she remarked.

With Mary Kom, he had to extend the career of an established champion. With Jaismine, he had to rebuild a young boxer after a tough phase. In both cases, he chose adaptation over a fixed template.

In short, chhote Lal's quiet craft earns him the Dronacharya award is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.