Tokyo Olympics 2020, Form Guide: Tracking Simranjit Kaur's performances over last two years

Editor’s Note: For five years now, Indian athletes have been dreaming to make up for the disappointment of a two-medal haul in Rio. The span has been extraordinary, with COVID-19 having thrown their preparations - and the Olympics itself - off gear. However, in true Olympic spirit, the country’s finest sportspersons have battled form and uncertainty to put their best foot forward in what promises to be a Games like none other. In our latest series, we track the last two years’ performances of our athletes to give you a ready guide to their form leading into the biggest sporting spectacle of the world. 

Simranjit Kaur announced herself on the global stage by winning the bronze medal at the World Boxing Championships in November 2018, and since then, the boxer has shown no signs of turning back. In July 2019,  she won a gold medal at the President’s Cup  in Indonesia, beating Asian Games bronze medallist Hasanah Huswatun by a dominant scoreline of 5-0 in the final.

Later that year, Kaur  played a vital role  for her franchise Bengaluru Brawlers in the inaugural season of the Big Bout League, winning all four of the matches that she participated in.

World Championships bronze-medallist Kaur was one of a handful of boxers to  secure qualification for the Tokyo Olympics  at the Asian/Oceanian Olympic Qualifiers in March 2020. Kaur earned her quota by reaching the semi-finals of the 60kg category, where she beat third seed Shih-Yi Wu of Taiwan in a come-from-behind win. Kaur ended the tournament with a silver medal, after being beaten by South Korea’s Oh Yeon-ji.

Like most other Indian boxers, Kaur had to endure a difficult spell during first several months of the COVID-19 pandemic, with all competition having come to a halt. She made her return to the sport with a  gold medal in the Cologne Boxing Championship , where she just about beat Maya Kleinhans in the title bout. In the semi-final, she beat Ukraine’s Marianna Basanets by 4-1.

She also  won a silver medal at the Boxam International  in March 2021, where she was denied a shot at gold after her semi-final opponent Kiria Tapia tested positive for COVID-19, forcing Kaur’s withdrawal.

COVID troubles

Kaur’s preparations for the Olympics were thrown slightly off track in April 2021, as she tested positive for COVID-19. After failing to recover from the symptoms of the virus in time, Kaur was dropped from the Indian contingent that was scheduled to take part at the Asian Boxing Championships by the Boxing Federation of India.

Kaur did eventually manage to make it onto the plane headed for Dubai however, and despite having only just recovered from COVID-19, performed incredibly well, reaching the semi-finals of the tournament. Unfortunately for Kaur, that’s where  her campaign ended , and she walked away with a bronze medal, after suffering defeat at the hands of Kazakhstan’s Rimma Volossenko in a unanimous verdict.

Click here to check out form guides for the rest of the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.