Fist of fury gone wrong
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: January 17, 2014 -

The classy manner in which he had out-boxed Timor Tulyakov, forcing the then favoured world no. 2 Uzbekistan boxer to retire after the fourth round itself in a thrilling bout of the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games to win the gold medal is still fresh in the mind of the people.

Only 20-year old then, the bantam weight boxer from Manipur scripted history when he let his mitts and fists do the talking after the Union Sports Ministry initially decided not to clear him for participation in the Asian Games despite the boxing association's pleas.

Defying all odds, he went on to become the first Indian boxer to win gold since heavyweight Kaur Singh who achieved similar feat in the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games, and the only fourth boxer in the history of Indian boxing to earn the distinction of winning the gold after the illustrious Padam Bahadur Mall, who won India's first Games gold in the 1962 Jakarta Games; Hawa Singh, the 1966 and 1970 Bangkok winner, and, of course Kaur Singh in 1982. Yes

, we are talking about our own Ngangom Dingko Singh, whose rise to success from a poor family and stay at an orphanage before coaches from Sports Authority of India (SAI) spotted and picked him up under the Special Area Games (SAG) scheme, has been a source of inspiration for many young players who come after him.

In fact, five-time world boxing champion and London Olympic Bronze Medallist MC Mary Kom, who was an all-round athlete with 400 metre race and javelin throw as her pet events, has time and again stated how she was inspired by the success of Dingko to switch her sporting disciplines and become a boxer.

This inspiration was something everyone in Manipur regardless of whether they were in sports or not has felt at one point of time or the other.

Along with Mary, everyone in Manipur was so proud to see Dingko returning home from Bangkok Asian Games with a shining gold medal around his neck and almost everyone was there at the Imphal Tulihal Airport or along the roads to given him a hero's welcome with red carpet roll out.

But the recent incident in which Dingko, now serving as a boxing coach of SAI, SAG, beating up a young woman weightlifting players so brutally with a stick over a petty matter of scribbling either 'Oja Dingko' or 'Oja Dingko with love from Aranbala' on his car's dust-covered rear windshield, is so unbecoming of a sport personality of his status and calibre.

Yes, Sports may be all about discipline and as a coach Dingko may mean to discipline his players, but what kind of disciplining is that to leave scars that tell tale of brutality on the bare buttock of a young woman, needing her to undergo medical treatment.

Its definitely a case of fist of fury all gone wrong.

Anyway, it's good to know that Dingko has not only quickly realised his misconduct but also apologised to the people and surrendered to the police.