Sonia Parab
has many accolades associated with her name. From being a state boxing champion
to her association with the Professional Boxing Federation of Russia, Sonia is
growing from strength to strength.
Coming from humble beginnings, Sonia was interested in watching fight
scenes as a teenager. She would find Jackie Chan’s lightening fast moves
exciting and wanted to replicate the same. After schooling in Guardian Angel
Higher Secondary, Curchorem, Sonia returned to Chapora and decided to join a gym
for regular workouts. What she least expected was that this simple membership
would lead her to a boxing ring with an Italian boxer.
Daughter of
Jalindar and Lata Parab, Sonia was interested in joining boxing with the aim of
self defense. However, her coach Fabrizio Petroni of Tiger Boxing School,
Chapora saw her true potential to take on opponents. “I joined boxing in 2003
and since then I have dedicated myself to the sport. I liked the concept of
boxing as it was the same as karate – being defensive without the use of
weapons. My parents were very supportive and my coach was inspirational. For my
first fight, I had no opponent in lightweight category as there were no girl
boxers. I was used to sparring with boys in the academy so my coach asked for a
male opponent. I won my first fight and I was so happy that it gave me
motivation to continue boxing,” says Sonia.
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Sonia was
the only gold medallist for the state at the Guwahati National Games in 2007.
Besides that, she has participated in every National Games since 2004 and has
won gold in West Zone Tournament in 2006 at Mumbai with the Best Boxer trophy,
a gold medal and Best Boxer award at the Federation Cup in 2009 and gold at the
West Zone Boxing Championship in 2010. In 2012, she was licensed as a professional
boxer under Professional Boxing Federation of Russia and has competed with
opponents from Belarus and Italy and is awaiting her next tournament.
The most
surprising award was the Best Loser Trophy she received at the Women’s
Nationals, Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh in 2006. “I played the game for nearly
19 minutes. My opponent was bleeding near her eyebrow and was taking breaks but
we still continued with the game. I lost it but was awarded for sportsmanship,”
says Sonia with a smile.
Currently
working at Goa Football Development Council, she rushes to Chapora for her
two-hour long practice. “As long as you happily enjoy what you’re doing, you
don’t feel the physical hurt. My coach’s motto is ‘Never give up’ so I give my
110 per cent. Unfortunately, there are very few tournaments for boxing, which
is discouraging for young boxers. There should be more freedom than politics to
play the game,” says Sonia.
What boxing
teaches her? “I have learnt to respect, be punctual and to fight for what is
right,” says the young girl who has worked as a bouncer for four years at a
nightclub in Baga. “You have to add a limited amount of aggression too and at
the same time think about your strategy and the next move. I might be the
jovial, talkative girl outside the ring, but I love to play the double role and
show my aggressive side inside the ring; it makes people sit and watch,”
concludes Sonia.
