The Hindu : Sport / Boxing : A shot in the arm for Indian pugilists

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A shot in the arm for Indian pugilists

Sports Reporter

BATHINDA: India’s sterling performance in the Olympics seems to have inspired the boxers from across the country as they are putting up spirited efforts to raise the level of competition at the ongoing 55th National championship here.

A couple of coaches said that the performances of the Indian pugilists in Beijing had done a world of good to the sport.

“I would not say the standard of the boxers (in the Nationals) has gone up suddenly. But yes, one can see a change in their approach. They are now boxing with a lot spirit, there is a lot of ‘josh,” chief National coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu said on Sunday.

Sandhu said that the financial and other rewards bestowed on the Beijing heroes had given fresh aspirations to the other boxers. “The media has created a hype, the boxers are being honoured and given cash rewards. All this has pepped up the others and they are hugely inspired to do something like Akhil Kumar, Vijender Singh or Jitender Kumar. They are now gunning for bigger glory.”

The coach of the Railways team, Jaidev Bisht, is also pleased to note the change in the boxers’ attitude. “They are up in their spirits. Not only the young boxers, but also the experienced ones are hungrier then ever before.

Bisht, a former international boxer and an ex-footballer from Delhi, says Vijender’s bronze medal and the achievements of Akhil and Jitender in the Olympics had sown the seeds of self-belief in the Indian boxers.

“Earlier, most of them took up boxing for getting a job. Now they think they can also do something big, win medals and become richer and famous. That has brought abut the transformation,” he says.

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