In 2008 when a little-known athlete Vijender Singh from Bhiwani, Haryana won a bronze medal for India at the Beijing Olympics, boxing shot into limelight and captured the imagination of numerous Indians. Alongside, the fame that Singh earned also raised hopes of several young Indian boxers for making it big.

Shailendra School’s Dishant Dalvi (blue) punches a left jab at Ashish Satardekar (red) of Arvind Gandvir School at an inter-school boxing event last year. Pic/ Satyajit Desai