28-year-old boxer and doctor Danisha Mathialagan is a member of the Singapore sports delegation participating in the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand. She appeared at the 2019 SEA Games and attended the 19th Asian Games (ASIAD).
Danisha was born into a family of Indian origin and was oriented to become a doctor. Her mother is a nurse, so Danisha has been exposed to the hospital environment since childhood. After graduating from Temasek University of Science and Technology, the female martial artist became a forensic technical officer of the medical science agency's morgue. Her task was to support an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
Currently, Danisha works in turns at 3 funeral homes, working from 11am to 5pm every day. To date, the female boxer has completed more than 500 body treatments. Most of her emotions were not affected, except in some cases. For Danisha, the work at the funeral home and boxing both requires toughness, controlling intensity and mentality.
Leaving work at the funeral home, the 28-year-old fighter found joy in boxing. She represented Singapore in more than 20 international boxing matches, winning a silver medal at the 2024 World Cup in Mongolia.
Danisha Mathialagan started competitive sports in high school. At first, she spent a lot of time convincing her family to study in the gym. From here, she started her journey at 6:30 am, continuously going back and forth between the gym and school. For 4 years, she hid from her parents to participate in local tournaments.
At the age of 20, the female boxer was called up to the Singapore boxing team. Two years later, she officially participated in the 30th SEA Games in the Philippines. At this time, Danisha did not need to secretly return home like before, being able to display the trophy and medal publicly.
pursuing her passion for boxing, Danisha Mathialagan had to arrange her time and balance her medical work. In 2024, she stopped being an X-ray, breaking a contract worth about 130,000 Singapore dollars to focus on practicing, competing and experiencing at the funeral home.
The above decision caused financial losses but helped Danisha have more time to rest and recover. Reducing a workload makes the female athlete not too busy, meeting the increasingly high training requirements.
Coach Muhamad Ridhwan praised his student: "She has incredible discipline and endurance, and never gives excuses. Danisha also has the ability to divide work.
