Through with a 10—day training camp in France, Indian boxers have flown to Baku (Azerbaijan) for the World Championships, aiming to secure Olympic berths and better the previous best of a bronze medal in the mega—event starting September 26.
Led by Vijender Singh, the middle weight boxer who ended India’s medal jinx in both the Olympics and the World Championships with a bronze, the Indian team was in France to train and get acclimatised to European conditions ahead of the big event.
Featuring a record 685 boxers from 127 countries, the World Championships will double up as an Olympic qualifiers from where the top—10 pugilists in all categories, except for heavyweight and super heavyweight, will qualify for the London Games next year.
In the heavyweight and super heavyweight, only the top six will make the grade for the Olympics.
Apart from India, 21 countries including Russia, Cuba, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, USA, Congo, Germany, Australia and Ireland will field a complete 10—member team.
National coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu said the competition will be expectedly tough.
“With so many countries participating, the nature of the competition is going to be unpredictable and boxers will have to register at least four or five wins just to reach the medal rounds,” he said.
“Our training has been of very high standard, we have focused on all aspects of the game giving extra attention to physical fitness, keeping in mind the new scoring system,” he added.
The World Championships will be played under the new rules which debuted at the AIBA Women’s Junior/Youth World Boxing Championship in Antalya, Turkey earlier this year.
Under the new structure, points are awarded after taking the average of the three judges scores which are closest.
The competitors as well as the audience only get to know the scores after the completion of each round.
AIBA revised the scoring system to discourage the boxers’ defensive tactic of going into a shell guard after having notched a few points lead.
“There is expectation and suspense as the result is only known at the end of the round, therefore the boxers cannot afford to be complacent and need to be more aggressive in the final round,” said Sandhu.
Talking about India’s chances, Sandhu said, “It is very difficult to predict anything at this point, but I am hoping we do better than last time and we should be able to bag at least two slots for the Olympics if not more.”
Apart from Vijender, an Asian Games gold—medallist, medal hopes also rest on the likes of Asian Games silver medallist Dinesh Kumar (81kg).
For veteran boxer Akhil Kumar (56kg), the tournament holds great significance as he is looking to make a comeback of sorts after battling lack of form and injury—plagued last couple of years.
Making his third appearance in the World Championships is 2010 Commonwealth gold medallist Suranjoy Singh (52kg).
The diminutive boxer, who was recently accorded with the Arjuna award, has had a good year with two bronze medals from two tournaments.
2010 Youth World Champion and Asian Games gold—medallist, Vikas Krishan (69kg) is another bright prospect for the event.
The 19—year—old has jumped a couple of divisions since making his debut at the senior level last year.
