Former boxer Dingko Singh tests positive for COVID-19

NEW DELHI: Asian Games gold medal-winning former boxer Dingko Singh, who is already battling liver cancer, has tested positive for COVID-19.

The 41-year-old was flown to the national capital earlier this month to undergo radiation therapy and had returned to his home state Manipur after being diagnosed with jaundice once again.

"Dingko travelled with his wife on an ambulance. He developed fever a few days ago. Since the fever did not subside, the COVID test was conducted and he returned a positive result," said the source. "It is not yet clear how he got the COVID virus."

Dingko, who was airlifted from Manipur on April 25 and admitted in a hospital in Delhi for chemotherapy for a relapse of cancer, was in quarantine at a hotel in Imphal for about a week after returning from the National capital on road.

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI), which had helped Dingko's transfer from Imphal to Delhi for treatment, was surprised with the development and was trying to get in touch with his family by the time the report was being filed. The swashbuckling former bantamweight boxer won the Asian Games gold in the 1998 edition in Bangkok. He is an Arjuna and Padma Shri awardee. Agencies