Sakshi Chaudhary reserved a bronze medal for India in CWG 2026

Sakshi Chaudhary from Haryana village to international podium, she has guaranteed a bronze medal for the nation at the Commonwealth Games by a victory in the women’s 51kg boxing semifinals against Northern Ireland's Caitlyn Fryers.

Born on 9 September 2000 in Bhiwani Haryana, Sakshi grew up in a town where boxing isn't just a sport but a way of living a life. Her father was the first to notice that combative nature of her and he gave a direction to that spirit. In 2012, he introduced her to boxing, and she started training at the Bhiwani Boxing Club under Jagdish Singh Tarar the same coach who shaped the career of Olympic medallist Vijender Singh.

The path was changing. In 2012, at the 7th Sub-Junior Haryana State Championships she won silver medal. In 2015, she won gold medal at the AIBA World Junior Women's Championships. she maintained that momentum and won a gold medal at the 2017 World Youth Championships in Guwahati and the 2018 edition in Budapest, Hungary. The game shows her power to control range and dictate the tempo of a fight made her a difficult opponent, even at just a young age.

The senior level games were far more difficult than early days. Sakshi competed in several senior international events over the following years, the big medals and the multi-sport selections were out from her side. In 2022, a shoulder injury brought her progress to a halt a kind of setback that break her momentum in a sport like boxing. Well, rather than the obstacle defines her, she used that pause to rebuild, returning with sharper focus than before.

That same year marked a turning point in her life. Sakshi was recruited into the Indian Army's Mission Olympic Programme, as Havildar Sakshi in the Corps of Military Police through the sports quota. That step gave her career a structure, discipline, and access to specialised training support that was missing before. Her younger brother also joined the Indian Army as an officer, adding one more to family as military connection. From that point, Sakshi wasn't just fighting for medals she was fighting for the uniform she wore alongside and that show the power of athlete and military personnel.

2025 turned as a defining year. At the World Boxing Cup in Astana, Kazakhstan Sakshi won a gold medal in the 54kg category, defeating every opponent by 5-0 a result made a significant fact that it was India's first gold by a woman at that competition.

A major call in her career. At the national selection trials in Patiala in May 2026, Sakshi opt to drop down to the 51kg category a decision that demanded strict dieting, tight physical discipline, and careful management of her strength and energy. Dropping weight is rarely easy for a boxer, but it turned out a masterstroke for her. She faced two of Indian boxing's biggest names on her way to qualification: first, two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen in the semifinal, whom she beat 4-1, and then Minakshi Hooda a reigning world and Asian champion in the final, where she once again showed her tactical sharpness to win 5-0.

Those two wins didn't just show a remarkable set of trials they secured her a spot at both the international events , Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

Sakshi Chaudhary's story, from a boxing club in Bhiwani to a Commonwealth Games podium, says as much about institutional support and family belief as it does about individual grit. It's a reminder of how village-level talent, combined with disciplined training and the backing of the armed forces, can eventually produce a world-class competitor. she is an example to the young girls from a village that giving up was not really an option if your goal is to secure a medal for the country.