Mid-Day Opinion: Give every girl the opportunity to excel in sport

Boxing gold medallist Preeti Pawar. PIC/PTI

Even more reason for India to let her daughters go out and play the sport they love. While Indian boxing overall has done splendidly at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow (Scotland), India's women pugilists, with their medal haul, put a sheen on the country's campaign. Even with the understanding that the competition is way tougher at the Asian Games and, of course, the Olympics, experts say that our women boxers are serious Olympic medal prospects for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

While reaching state, national and international standards is far ahead, we say let every triumph push you to give your girls/daughters the freedom to go outside and play.

Encourage sporting ambition, and where there is genuine talent, parents, if possible, can encourage their girls to get training and good equipment. While we may see that the gates are opening for girls to some extent, there is still some way to go, especially when it comes to ‘rough' sports like boxing or wrestling.

Our public spaces, roads, and parks are dotted with young men playing some sport (most of the time it is cricket) on a holiday. We will not see girls do the same. Girls do not have the same avenues to play sport; they have to be enrolled in a club, etc, usually indoors. Even within sporting choices, some games are considered more ‘suitable ‘, or girls are encouraged to compete in those rather than boxing, wrestling, martial arts, or combat sport. Let us see more opportunities for girls to pursue the sport they love or excel in. Break those chains and let freedom lead them to the podium.