New Delhi: A lot has changed for Amit Panghal since the Tokyo Olympics. He fell in the pecking order before reclaiming his spot, for one. The image of his late grandfather, Captain Jagram Panghal, has been tattooed on his left scapula (shoulder blade). One underlines determination and the other inspiration.

“It ensures he is always around me. I draw a lot of peace and confidence from it,” the 28-year-old says. Jagram earned his fame at the dangals in and around Rohtak’s Mayna village. He is said to have been unbeaten across seven neighbouring villages, and became Panghal’s hero since childhood.

“We are five brothers, and me being the youngest my grandfather adored me. He wanted me to win an Olympic medal. ‘Dil khol ke khel’ (play with freedom) was his only advice.

“Now is the time to realise his dream, which is my dream too.”

Having fluffed his chance in Tokyo – as world No.1 he crashed out in the opening bout – the 51kg boxer’s resilience has helped get a second shot at the one major medal missing from his cabinet.

It has not been easy though. Panghal spent much of the three years leading up to Paris on the sidelines, repeatedly failing to make it to the national side. The turnaround began in February with victory at the Strandja Memorial in Sofia. The Indian boxers’ failure at the first Olympic World Qualifiers in Busto Arsizio, Italy the next month was followed by Panghal topping the evaluation criteria at the national camp, paved the way for his return to the team.

Panghal, who with Nishant Dev (71kg) made the cut at the second World Qualifier in June, says he is “in the best shape of my life”.

He trained for a month at Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) high-altitude centre in Shilaroo, Himachal Pradesh, opting not to travel with the rest of the boxers to India’s pre-Games base at the southwestern German city of Saarbrucken.

“It has done wonders to me,” Panghal says about his Shilaroo stint. “My endurance has improved a lot. Initially, I would lose steam after a bit of brisk walking at this altitude (8,000 feet), but now I feel fresh throughout the bout. The lungs and legs don’t give way, the mind is focussed. I am in a great space.”

Panghal’s sparring partners in Shilaroo included 2019 Asian Championships silver medallist Kavinder Singh Bisht, former national champion Rohit Mor and the talented Sachin Siwach.

“I had boxers across age-groups, styles, techniques and weights to spar with. Just staying in altitude helped improve the endurance and stamina,” said Panghal, whose regimen included weekly cross-country runs and occasional treks.

Supervised by two coaches, including long-time personal coach Anil Dhankar, Panghal worked on his starting problems. Known to be a sluggish starter, he paid the price against Colombia’s Yuberjen Martinez in Tokyo, and survived a close bout against Mexico’s Mauricio Ruiz at the second World Qualifier.

“The solution is to go on early attacks and land a few punches to impress the judges. I have changed my reactive strategy and have decided to be proactive, from the opening round of the opening bout.”

For that, his opening rounds in practice were reduced from the regulation three minutes to one. “The idea was to put all my energy in the opening exchanges and assert myself. With improved stamina, I know I can finish off the opponent in the next two rounds.”

“I know this is my second Olympics, but in my head it still feels like my first. Tokyo was over in a blink. I am no longer world No.1 but want to show the world what I am capable of.”

The 2019 World Championships silver medallist counts Cuban Alejandro Carlo and Uzbekistan’s 2016 Olympics champion Hasanboy Dusmatov as his major threats in Paris. “I have not fought against the Cuban, so will have to rely on video analysis. Dusmatov is always a threat.”

Technically, Panghal will continue to rely on his pacy in-out style to counter taller opponents. “It’s the style that has worked best for me. I feel the endurance work will enable me to pull this off against the best.”