Berwal told Modi that his coach at the Military Games was also named Narender
Published: August 10, 2026, 8:51 PM IST
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PM Modi and Narender boxer interaction, (Credits: X)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Indian Commonwealth Games contingent at his residence in New Delhi on Sunday and congratulated the athletes for their strong performance at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The interaction saw athletes share their experiences from the Games, with boxer Narender Berwal leaving the Prime Minister and others in the room in splits with a funny story involving a Pakistani opponent.
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Berwal, who won the silver medal in the men’s 90+kg category in Glasgow, recalled an incident from the 2015 World Military Games while speaking to ModiHe said his first-round bout at the event was against a Pakistani boxerBefore the fight, his army colleagues had told him that he could not afford to lose the contest.
Berwal won the bout, but both boxers suffered cuts during the fight and had to visit a hospital for stitchesIt was during their time at the hospital that the Pakistani boxer noticed an interesting coincidence.
#WATCH | “Pakistani boxer said to me ‘Aapka naam Narender hai, aapke coach ka naam Narender hai, aapke Pradhan Mantri ka naam Narendra haiMujhe Narendra naam se nafrat ho gayi hai’…” says Heavyweight boxer and silver medallist Narender Berwal narrating his conversation with a… pic.twitter.com/qvmwO5D2sz
— ANI (@ANI) August 10, 2026
Berwal told Modi that his coach at the Military Games was also named NarenderHis opponent then pointed out that Berwal was Narender, his coach was Narender and India’s Prime Minister was also Narendra.
The boxer recalled his opponent joking that he had started hating the name Narendra after coming across so many people with the same name.
The story had Modi laughing along with the athletes and officials present at the meeting.
The meeting came after India enjoyed one of its best boxing campaigns in Commonwealth Games historyIndian boxers returned from Glasgow with 10 medals, including seven gold and three silverThe tally was India’s best-ever performance in boxing at the Commonwealth Games, surpassing the previous record of six medals.
Ankush Panghal, Sachin Siwach, Jaismine Lamboria, Preeti Pawar, Sakshi Chaudhary, Arundhati Choudhary and Priya Ghanghas won gold medalsBerwal, Lovlina Borgohain and Jadumani Singh claimed silver medals.
Berwal’s silver added to his growing list of achievementsThe Indian Army junior commissioned officer had earlier won a bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Games and has also won two Asian Championships medals.
India finished the Glasgow Commonwealth Games with 39 medals, including 13 gold, 17 silver and nine bronze, to finish fourth in the overall standingsThe Games also ended with the formal handover of the Commonwealth Games flag to India, which will host the 2030 edition in Ahmedabad.
The meeting with Modi gave the Indian athletes a chance to look back at their performances and share some memorable moments from GlasgowFor Berwal, however, it was his light-hearted story about his name that became one of the most entertaining moments of the interaction.
