Haryana Boxer Gunjan to Represent India at Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics in Women’s 48kg
Haryana boxer Gunjan will represent India in the women’s 48kg boxing event at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal, carrying the state’s proud boxing tradition onto the youth Olympic stage. The Games are being held in Dakar from October 31 to November 13, 2026, and boxing bouts are scheduled at the Dakar Exhibition Centre in Diamniadio from November 7 to 12.
Gunjan earned her place at Dakar with a silver medal at the 2026 World Boxing Futures Cup in Bangkok, the qualifying championship for the Youth Olympic boxing quotas. She reached the final in Bangkok with a commanding 5-0 semi-final win over North Korea’s Yu Gyong Kim, before losing the final to England’s Lily Bassett. That silver secured one of India’s two boxing quotas for Dakar.
The teenager trains at the Manjeet Lohan Boxing Club in Hisar, Haryana, an academy led by international professional boxer Vikas Lohan. She began her international journey representing India at the Under-19 Asian Boxing Championships, and her rise through the Futures Cup has now taken her to the biggest youth stage in world sport.
India has secured two boxing quotas for Dakar 2026, one in each gender. Alongside Gunjan in the women’s 48kg category, Manipur’s L. Ambekar Meitei will compete in the men’s 50kg category, after also winning silver at the qualifying championship. In all, India is fielding 17 athletes across 11 sports at Dakar, in a 35-member contingent.
At Dakar, 116 boxers from 77 National Olympic Committees are competing across five weight categories each for men and women. Gunjan’s bouts are scheduled in the women’s 48kg draw, with quarter-finals on November 10, semi-finals on November 11 and the final on November 12, subject to qualification through the draw. For Haryana, already known for producing champion boxers, her Youth Olympic campaign is another moment of pride for the state’s sporting system.
