This story is from September 6, 2014

India comes first for boxing guru Manoharan

Ganapathy Manoharan does not dream of personal grandeur or national praise. Having spent almost three decades producing champion boxers for India, the vastly experienced 56-year-old Dronacharaya award winner is still yearning for more.
India comes first for boxing guru Manoharan
Bangalore: Ganapathy Manoharan does not dream of personal grandeur or national praise. Having spent almost three decades producing champion boxers for India, the vastly experienced 56-year-old Dronacharaya award winner is still yearning for more.
“It’s always India’s glory that comes first for me. I have been a coach since 1987 and my wards have produced 154 international medals till now.
I will continue to do so till the last ounce of my energy.”
Heartfelt words – as firm as his one-time dreaded uppercuts – sum up Manoharan’s emotions perfectly.
In the dusty, narrow bylanes of Subbanapalya, a flex banner featuring Manoharan receiving the award — India’s highest honour for a coach — from President Pranab Mukherjee greets residents. The gates to Ananda Nilayam, Manoharan’s modest home, has a partial insignia of the Moscow 1980 Olympics’ Kremlin emblem, and the Olympic rings emblazoned on it.
Inside, the living room is adorned with several trophies, certificates, memorabilia and medals from his golden years as a boxer and coach. Black-and-white photographs framed along the wall revive colourful memories of his past — whether it is from his sparring days at the Asian Championships or a shy, candid picture with Sandalwood legend Dr Rajkumar.
“I was training his son Shivarajkumar, who was preparing for the role of a boxer in a Kannada movie, at his house. Dr Rajkumar sir sometimes used to watch us train and once he obliged for this memorable photo,” Manoharan recalled.

On a raised pedestal in the centre of the trophy cabinet rests the Arjuna award he won in 1981 and the Abhimanyu award, conferred by the Madras Engineers Group (MEG) for boxing the following year. The Dronacharya received last week completed the treble.
“It was like I was in heaven,” Manoharan, eyes shut, recalled fondly of his evening at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. “As I sat there, among several of India’s top sportspersons and coaches, my thoughts went back to the day I received the Arjuna from the then president Giani Zail Singh. For the last six years, I’ve patiently waited for this (Dronacharya) honour and I believed my hard work would not go unrewarded. It has come true,” the SAI coach said.
Manoharan’s love for the Army came from his father, Lance Naik C Ganapathy Gounder, who fought in World War II and was imprisoned in Berlin for three years, before being released after Adolf Hitler’s death. At 15, he joined the Army Boys Sports Company at MEG and his meteoric rise as a boxer and later as coach was unstoppable.
Amidst shuttling between Aurangabad and Pune for national camps, Manoharan is also the sole bread-winner for his extended family. While his son pursues an engineering degree in the United States, Manoharan has married away his eldest daughter and provides for his wife, youngest daughter and the three daughters of his deceased elder brother. He also takes care of his widowed sister and an intellectually-challenged younger brother, braving every adversity with a smile.
As the national youth coach, some of Manoharan’s medal-winning wards — Guangzhou Asiad gold winner Vikas Krishan (69kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg), L Devendro Singh (49kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) made him proud by qualifying for the London Olympics. “My aim now is to produce medal winners for the Rio Olympics. And if given a chance, I’m confident I can achieve this,” asserts Manoharan.
FAST FACTS: GANAPATHY MANOHARAN
Age: 56
Profession: National junior & youth boxing coach
1973: Joined Madras Engineers Group
1977-78: Junior national champion
1977-82: Senior national champion
1987-2004: Assistant coach of Indian team
2006 onwards: Junior & youth coach
INTERNATIONAL HONOUR
1979 Indo-Lanka meet gold in Colombo; 1980 Asian Championships bronze in Mumbai; 1981 Brisbane mini-Commonwealth Games gold; Reached third round of 1980 Moscow Olympics; Reached quarterfinals of 1982 Seoul Asian Championships;
AWARDS: Arjuna Award (1981); Abhimanyu Award (1982); Dronacharya Award (2014)
TOP WARDS: Santosh Singh, Thokchom Nanao Singh, Chhote Lal Yadav, Dingko Singh, Johnson Varghese, L Devendro Singh, Shiva Thapa, Sumit Sangwan & Vikas Krishan among others.
DID YOU KNOW?
At the 1981 Brisbane mini-Commonwealth Games, Manoharan fractured his left hand but defeated his New Zealand opponent in the 54kg semifinal bout. In the final, he fought with his injured hand to defeat his Australian opponent and clinch the gold medal, which has since been immortalized at the MEG museum.
TOP QUOTE
Manoharan is one of India's best boxing coaches and it's great that the Dronacharya Award has finally been bestowed on him. He has produced some of India's top young boxers and he has the potential to hone several more medal winners. He completely deserves this honour.
— M Venu, former national coach and 2005 Dronacharya awardee
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