The Hindu : Sport : Indian pugilists a confident lot

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 30, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport

Indian pugilists a confident lot

Y.B. Sarangi

India’s biggest ever boxing squad

— Photo PTI

RARING TO GO: Indian boxers (from left) Jitender Kumar, Vijender Kumar and Akhil Kumar will be looking to come up with a good performance at Beijing.

Never before have Indian boxers been so confident prior to an Olympics.

The notable performances in the past have been a quarterfinal appearance by Gurcharan Singh in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Ron Norris’s third round effort way back in 1948. At the World Championship the scene has been bleak too, with the except ion of the two bronze medals won by Zoram Thanga in 1990 and V. Devarajan in 1994. That portrays India’s status at the elite level of the sport.

Full faith

Is the optimism built around the pugilists this time born out of an extra degree of over-confidence? Is the war cry from India only a vague ranting?

The boxing fraternity does not agree. “Not for nothing have five boxers made the qualification this time. It is India’s biggest ever boxing squad to the Olympics,” argues Chief coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu.

“I don’t know what people think, but I have full faith in my boys and know each one of them is capable of winning a medal. Everyone is equally valuable for me,” Sandhu said.

A quick look at their CVs substantiates Sandhu’s claims.

The contestants

One of the most experienced boxers in the squad, Akhil Kumar (54kg) is known for his aggression and guile as well as his gold winning feat in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Despite nurturing a wrist injury, he qualified for his second Olympics at the first Asian qualifying event in Thailand.

Vijender (75 kg), was a silver medallist at the last Commonwealth Games and had won a bronze in the Doha Asian Games.

But he lifted his performance to beat the Athens Olympics gold medallist Bakhtiyar Artayev of Kazakhstan in the President’s Cup meet in Chinese Taipei.

His recent gold winning performance in a strong field at the Chemistry Cup in Germany is another proof of the boxer’s ability.

Jitender Kumar (51 kg), A.L. Lakra (57 kg) and Dinesh Kumar (81 kg) also hold a lot of promise and have earned laurels at National and Asian level.

The trio of Vijender, Dinesh and Jitender booked their tickets to Beijing at the second Asian qualifiers in Kazakhstan while Lakra qualified after reaching the quarterfinals at the World championship in Chicago last year.

Best bets

Though Sandhu backs all the boxers in the squad, he agrees that Akhil and Vijender stand the best chance and are favoured to beat any boxer on their day. “Akhil is a confident boxer, very determined and strong willed. His sharp hooks and power-packed punches are world class. He is an athlete who has the rare ability to come back strongly from a trailing position,” Sandhu says.

Analysing Vijender, the chief coach says, “He is a cool boy who watches his opponent and tries to beat his strong points. His straight punches are deadly.”

Ask the boxers what they feel about their chances in their second Olympics and they exude nothing but confidence.

“Nobody can guarantee a medal. Not even an Asafa Powell. In my sport, one will win and one will lose and I am determined to win,” Akhil says, asserting that he has fully recovered from his wrist injury.

Besides, he believes that group training, involving 25-30 other boxers, in the pre-Olympics camp at NIS, Patiala, has helped the Beijing-bound pugilists immensely.

Optimistic

Vijender is equally optimistic about his chances. “The pressure is there because of the expectations. But I cannot afford to worry about the pressure. The more important task before me is winning a medal,” he says.

The Secretary-General of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation, Col. P.K.M. Raja is also excited.

“This is the best ever chance for Indian boxers in the Olympics. But no one can say for sure who will win because the Olympics is altogether different from other competitions,” he says.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport