Hailing from Haryana’s boxing nursery Bhiwani, Army havildar Sakshi Chaudhary, a former World junior and youth champion, took a tough decision to drop from 54kg to 51kg to find a slot in the 2026 Commonwealth Games-bound Indian team. The gamble paid off as she showed her big heart and came through with flying colours.After breaking English boxer Ruby White’s unbeaten run of 68 bouts and securing a unanimous decision in the women’s 51kg final in Glasgow, Sakshi flashed one of the brightest smiles.Amid attending felicitation functions and getting ready to rejoin the National camp to prepare for the upcoming Asian Games, she spoke to The Hindu. Excerpts:Why did you choose to go down from 54kg to 51kg?Preeti (Pawar) had won the gold medal in the Asian Championships in 54kg. So there were no trials in that category as she had already qualified for the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. I had the option of going to 51kg and going through the trials.But there was a risk that you might lose because there was a lot of competition. You could have also got injured while cutting down weight.I did not think of that. I had an option. I was very hungry. No matter what I had to do, I wanted to compete. This was my first experience of competing in 51kg. Before this, I had competed in 50kg at the National Games in 2023.Since World champions Minakshi Hooda and Nikhat Zareen were the main boxers in 51kg, what was your mindset?I had decided that I would not worry about whom I faced in the ring. I just had to give my best. I was my own competitor.How did you adapt in such a short time?I managed my weight within 20-25 days. I had almost stopped eating. I used to drink very little water. I had to do extra training.After training, I had to wear a hot suit to lose weight. Besides that, I had to maintain my performance. It was very difficult. When I was at home, my parents could not see that I was hungry. They used to give me food. I used to ask them not to give me food.