Ngangom Dingko Singh (1 January 1979 – 10 June 2021) was an Indian boxer from Manipur who competed in the bantamweight category. He is best remembered for winning the gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games held in Bangkok, Thailand, a feat that revived Indian interest in amateur boxing and inspired a generation of boxers from the North East, including Mary Kom.
| Full name | Ngangom Dingko Singh |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 January 1979, Sekta, Imphal East, Manipur |
| Died | 10 June 2021, Imphal, Manipur |
| Sport | Amateur boxing |
| Weight class | Bantamweight (54 kg) |
| Major honour | Gold, 1998 Asian Games (Bangkok) |
| Civilian awards | Arjuna Award (1998); Padma Shri (2013) |
| Service | Indian Navy |
Dingko Singh was born in Sekta, a village in the Imphal East district of Manipur. He was raised partly in an orphanage and took up boxing at a young age at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) training centre in Imphal. His talent was identified early, and in 1989 he won the Junior National Sub-Cadet Championship. He was named the Best Boxer at a junior international tournament held in Bulgaria in 1997.
Dingko trained under coaches at SAI, Imphal, and rose through the junior ranks during the early 1990s. He represented India at multiple junior and senior tournaments before his breakthrough at the senior international level.
At the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok, Dingko defeated Wong Sontana of Thailand and the Olympic bronze medallist Timur Tulyakov of Uzbekistan en route to the bantamweight final. He won the gold medal by defeating Wong Sontana in the final, becoming the first Indian boxer to win Asian Games gold in 1998 and only the second Indian boxer to win an Asian Games gold medal after Hawa Singh, who had won in 1966.
Dingko represented India at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney in the bantamweight category but was eliminated in the early rounds.
After retiring from competitive boxing, Dingko worked as a coach with the Sports Authority of India and trained young boxers, particularly in Manipur. He served in the Indian Navy.
Dingko was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2017 and underwent prolonged treatment in Delhi and Imphal. He died on 10 June 2021 at his residence in Imphal at the age of 42.
Dingko Singh's gold at the 1998 Asian Games is widely credited with reigniting interest in amateur boxing in India, especially in Manipur and the wider North East. Boxers including Mary Kom have publicly acknowledged him as an inspiration who motivated them to take up the sport. His success contributed to greater institutional support for boxing in Manipur and helped establish the state as a major nursery for Indian pugilists.