Sigyel Phub | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Born | Peljab Sigyel Phub
[2] 1984 (age 39–40) | ||||||||
Statistics | |||||||||
Weight(s) | |||||||||
Height | 5 ft 1 in (1.55 m) | ||||||||
Stance | Southpaw [1] | ||||||||
Medal record
|
Sigyel Phub (born 1984) is a Bhutanese former amateur boxer. He competed at the 2013 World Championships as well as two editions of the Asian Games in 2010 and 2014.
Phub, a former soldier, represented the Royal Bhutan Army during his amateur career. [4] [2]
In 2010, Phub won a bantamweight silver medal at the South Asian Games in Dhaka, defeating Sri Lankan representative Kamal Sameera in the semi-finals before losing to Naimatullah of Pakistan in the finals. [5] Later that year he reached the quarterfinals at the Asian Games in Guangzhou despite nursing a hand injury, [2] becoming one of the "main sensations" of the event after his two surprise wins. [6] For his performances, he was nominated for Bhutanese sportsperson of the year by Tshering Tobgay. [7] He also won a bronze medal at the 2011 President's Cup in Indonesia, [2] notably beating future Olympic medallist Satoshi Shimizu in the round of 16. [8] Phub competed in the bantamweight event of the 2013 World Championships in Almaty. In his first bout, he defeated Belarusian opponent Dzmitry Sapon on a 3–0 decision. [9] However, despite being "extremely focused and always operating from a high guard," Phub was defeated in his second match by Veaceslav Gojan. [10] His final major tournament was the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, where he was upset in his first bout by Nadir Baloch of Pakistan. [1]
After retirement, Phub worked as a coach with the national team. [6] In 2016 he opened Bhutan's first private boxing club, the Druk Thimphu Boxing Club, using Changlimithang Stadium as its training center. [4] Phub drove a taxicab in Thimphu to fund the club's expenses, accomplishing his dream of providing civilians an opportunity to learn the sport. [4] By July of that year, he had 30 members, both male and female, training at his club. [11] In 2018, nine of his boxers were selected to compete at the national championships in Phuntsholing, winning two gold and six silvers medals in the club's debut. [12] It was the first time since the inception of the Bhutan Boxing Federation, over three decades prior, that civilians took part in the competition. [12]
Phub returned to competition at the 2019 national championships in Thimphu, winning the welterweight gold medal. [6] He also competed at the 2019 India Open soon thereafter, moving down to light welterweight for the event. [13]