Overwhelmed and exhausted in equal measure, India's chief boxing coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu has told his wards to stay away from the ring and him for at least the next one month after notching up two unprecedented golds in a haul of seven medals at the Asian Games.
Vijender Singh (75kg) and Vikas Krishan (60kg) clinched India's boxing golds at the Asiad after 1998. Dinesh Kumar (81kg), V. Santhosh Kumar (64kg) and Manpreet Singh (91kg) fetched silver while Suranjoy Singh (52kg) and Paramjeet Samota (+91kg) settled for bronze medals here.
“I have told the boxers not to keep in touch with me and talk boxing for one month. It's a complete break for them before they start preparing for the London Olympics through the qualifying rounds which commence with the World championships sometime in September next year,” Sandhu said.
Sandhu revealed that Vijender fought with a dislocated thumb in his final bout against Uzbekistan's two-time World champion Abbos Atoev.
Superb performance
“It was a superb performance, the best ever in Asian Games in boxing in which we finished first along with China in the men's competition. Vijender dislocated his thumb in the first round against the World champion and fought a great tactical fight to win the gold,” said Sandhu.
“The procedures are different here as they do complete investigations and then attend to the patient. But it was taken up as a special case. The thumb has been dislocated at the base and his hand is in plaster. But I don't think it will cause any problem as he can use the right hand,” said Sandhu. Sandhu said Vijender used the right straight and the right uppercuts to good use in his fight against Atoev.
