Commonwealth Games 2026 : All you need to know about Arundhati Choudhary

Arundhati Choudhary, over the past few months, has emerged as one of India's best boxers, winning titles at the Federation Cup, World Cup, National Championships, Asian Championships and others.

The 23-year-old now heads to the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as one of India's brightest medal prospects in boxing.

Early days

Born on September 5, 2002, Arundhati Choudhary was raised in Kota, Rajasthan. Her father, Suresh Choudhary, initially wanted her to focus on academics and become an engineer, while her mother, Sunita Choudhary, convinced the family to support her sporting ambitions.

Arundhati was very good at academics, especially mathematics. Before taking up boxing, she was a basketball player and represented Rajasthan at the state level. At the age of 15, she decided to try boxing after discovering her passion for the sport.

Her journey began with another challenge as there was no boxing coach in Kota. After a lot of effort, she started training under Wushu coach Ashok Goutam.

While studying in Class 10, she was selected for the national camp. Before her board examinations, she studied for only 12 days and still cleared it with first division.

Soon after, she won gold at the 2017 Junior National Boxing Championship in Haryana in the 60kg category and was named the Best Boxer of the tournament.

Achievements

After winning her first junior national title, Arundhati quickly made a name for herself in Indian boxing. She won three consecutive gold medals at the Khelo India Games and also claimed gold in her first international tournament in Ukraine.

In 2019, she won a bronze medal at the ASBC Youth Asian Championships in Mongolia before achieving one of the biggest milestones of her career by winning the Youth World Championship in Poland in 2021.

Her performances helped her progress to the senior level and earn a place in the Indian national team.

She represented India at the 2023 Asian Games  where she suffered a first round defeat and later missed a chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics after losing in the Global Olympic Qualifiers.

Since October 2025, Arundhati has been in outstanding form, winning five consecutive gold medals. She won gold at the Federation Cup in Chennai in October 2025, followed by the World Cup in Greater Noida in December.

She extended her winning streak by winning the National Championships in Noida in January 2026, the Boxam Elite International in Spain in February 2026 and the Asian Championships in Mongolia in April 2026.

Her consistent performances also earned her a place in the Indian Army in 2022 as a Direct Entry Havildar in the Corps of Military Police under the Mission Olympic Programme.

She was among the first Indian women boxers to represent the Services and has continued to train under the Army while representing India at the highest level.

Injury setback

Arundhati's journey has also been filled with setbacks. In July 2018, she suffered a serious head injury during a training session after being hit by another boxer. The injury left her unconscious and she spent nearly a month in hospital.

Even after returning, she continued to suffer from blackouts and would sometimes collapse while training on the punching bag. There were moments when she was close to giving up boxing.

In 2025, she underwent surgery on her left wrist, which kept her out of action for almost a year. After recovering and making her comeback, Arundhati suffered another setback in 2026 when she sustained a fourth metacarpal fracture just before the Asian Boxing Championships.

Although doctors declared her completely unfit to compete, she still entered the tournament and went on to win the gold medal. Despite these injuries, Arundhati made a strong comeback and returned to winning form before earning her place in India's Commonwealth games squad.