Ngangom Dingko Singh, former India boxer and Asian Games Gold Medalist passed away on Thursday. Dinko was battling for a number of years now, starting with liver cancer for which he was being treated since 2017.
Dingko Singh also tested positive for COVID-19 last year, adding another one to the health challenges he was already battling.
Dingko had undergone radiation therapy at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), Delhi in January 2020 before returning to Imphal. When his condition worsened in April, Dingko was airlifted to the same hospital before being discharged. He had also contracted jaundice.
He was bestowed the Arjuna award in 1998 and was presented the nation's fourth-highest civilian honour — the Padma Shri — in 2013.
Boxer Vijender Singh took to social media to pay tribute to Dingko Singh and tweeted," My sincerest condolences on this loss May his life's journey & struggle forever remain a source inspiration for the upcoming generations. I pray that the bereaved family finds the strength to overcome this period of grief & mourning #dinkosingh."
A maverick, who inspired the likes of six-time world champion M C Mary Kom, Dingko was employed with the Indian Navy and also worked as a coach before ill-health confined him to his home.
Former Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also condoled the death of the boxer. "Dingko Singh was not only one of India's finest boxers but a sensation who put boxing on the sports map of the country. Saddened at the untimely death of the legend. My deepest condolences to his family and millions of fans," Sonowal wrote in a tweet.
