Boxing Federation of India mourns demise of Dronacharya Awardee Coach OP Bharadwaj

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New Delhi, May 21: The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) on Friday (May 21) mourned the demise of OP Bharadwaj, the first Dronacharya Awardee Boxing Coach. Bhardwaj passed away on Friday after battling prolonged illness and age-related issues here. He was 82 and had tragically lost his wife Santosh to ill-health about 10 days ago.

Expressing deepest condolences, BFI President Ajay Singh said, "OP Bharadwaj ji has been a flag bearer for the sport of boxing. He has been an inspiration to all of us. As a Coach, he has not only inspired a generation of boxers, coaches while as a selector, his work has been visionary and unparalleled. It was under his tutelage that the Sport received some of its highest honours. I join my colleagues in the Boxing Federation of India to mourn this irreplaceable loss and pray for his eternal peace."

Bhardwaj was bestowed with the highest national honour in coaching jointly with Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat (wrestling) and OM Nambiar (athletics) when it was introduced in 1985.

"He had been unwell for many days with a lot of health issues and was hospitalised. Age was a factor and there was also the shock of losing his wife about 10 days back," TL Gupta, a close family friend and a former boxing coach, told PTI.

Bhardwaj was India's national boxing coach from 1968 to 1989 and also served as a national selector. Under his tutelage, Indian pugilists won medals at the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games and the South Asian Games. A pioneer in Indian boxing, he was the first chief instructor for the sport at the National Institute of Sports India in Patiala.

In 2008, Bhardwaj had even taught some boxing techniques to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for a couple of months. Former national federation secretary general Brigadier (Retd) PKM Raja, during whose tenure he was a national selector, said Bhardwaj was highly respected for his contribution to the sport.

(With PTI inputs)