The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) on Friday announced the appointment of Santiago Nieva as Head Coach of the India Women's National Boxing Team, bringing back one of world boxing's most respected high-performance minds at a time when Indian women pugilists are riding unprecedented momentum.

The Swedish strategist, who earlier served as India's High Performance Director from 2017 to 2021, returns with a clear mandate: to elevate India's women boxers into consistent global medal contenders as the nation enters a decisive new Olympic cycle leading to Los Angeles 2028.

Indian women's boxing has recorded a string of standout performances in recent months, capped by a clean sweep at the World Boxing Cup Finals 2025 in Greater Noida, where the squad claimed seven gold, one silver and two bronze medals—several in Olympic weight divisions.

With competitive parity now integral across seven women's Olympic categories, Nieva will be tasked with developing depth, refining technical systems, and institutionalising world-class training structures.

BFI said the move reinforces its long-term investment in scientific training and high-performance systems.

Expressing his excitement, Nieva said he was delighted to return to India. "Super excited to come back to India. I had five wonderful years here in my previous stint. I am very much looking forward to this next chapter, and hopefully, we can create something big together. There is huge potential within the Indian women's team, and in LA 2028, we'll be aiming for something big and create history."

Nieva brings over two decades of elite coaching experience spanning multiple continents, having served as Boxing Australia's National Head Coach and Technical Lead, and earlier as Head Coach and Sports Director of Sweden's national program.

His previous stint with India was marked by major breakthroughs, including two medals at the 2019 Men's World Championships and India's largest-ever Olympic boxing contingent at Tokyo 2020, where Lovlina Borgohain won a landmark bronze.

BFI President Ajay Singh welcomed Nieva's return, calling it "an important step forward for our women's programme" and emphasising the international expertise he would inject into the system. He also acknowledged the significant contribution of former head coach D Chandralal, who will continue to play a key role in the national coaching set-up.