The first time Mandeep Jangra tried his hand in boxing, that too by chance rather than choice, he ended up being thrashed by none other than his own father.
But after Mandeep proved his mettle with a silver medal at the just-concluded Asian Championships, the 20-year-old was pleasantly surprised to find him at the airport to receive him.
"Previously he didn't even know where I was training, today he came to the airport to receive me," said the soft-spoken Hisar-lad, who bagged the 69kg silver medal at the Asian Championships in Amman, Jordan.
His opponent in the final and eventual gold-medallist, Kazakhstan's Daniyar Yeleussinov, was declared the event's best boxer.
Mandeep was in eighth standard when curiosity took him to a neighbourhood boxing arena where somebody taught him how to punch.
"Boxing was never on my mind as a career. I just went to see a bout and there somebody taught me how to punch. I ended up coming late to home and when I told where I was, dad thrashed me and locked me in a room," he recalled.
"Then we struck a deal. He said 'do what you feel like but get good marks' and I followed that. Then I went back to boxing, once again my mom complained to dad but this time he did not bash me.
"I thought, since it's neither a yes nor a no, let me just continue and I ended up getting a gold medal at the district championships," he said.
"It took me one year to convince my parents but I succeeded.
