Kicking away to glory again! Well, he quit kick boxing, having made a mark in the Senior Nationals with a bronze about 13 years ago, for want of financial support. But, now the 33-year-old Syed Aijaz Ahmed is back in the ring with a bang.
This City boxer, who started training only this February again, has now qualified for the World Kick Boxing championship by virtue of his silver in the 74 kg category of light contact in the Wako Asian championship in Pune last recently.
Significantly, Aijaz happens to be the lone Indian in the Asian meet to win a silver medal.
With coaches Sheikh Ahmed and Mohd Hafiz instilling the confidence in him, Aijaz is keen to script a new chapter in his career as he prepares for the World championship to be held in Dublin (Ireland) this November.
““The standard is going to be really tough but I am glad that the qualification for the Worlds gives me a chance to make a critical assessment of where I stand. Yes, I don’t want to talk big but will train as hard as possible to make an impact there,” says the boxer who is into real estate business and considerably better off to pursue his passion.
“It was difficult to be away from the sport but there was very little I could do. The financial constraints were a major handicap. However, since my coaches believed that I have in it in me to be a better boxer, I started training again at Victory Playground and am glad with the way I progressed,” says the boxer who comes from the by-lanes of Malakpet.
For the record, Aijaz having beaten Chinese Taipei’s Ye Ching Kan in the quarter-final, Kuwait’s Mohammad Abdullah in the semi-final lost to Iranian Mir Davood Mausavi and settled for silver in the Pune Asian meet. “It was an immensely satisfying event as it brought back the confidence in me for I beat some of the experienced boxers from abroad. I am not dispirited at losing the final; settling for a silver in such a touch competition is equally satisfying,” says Aijaz who is already in the preparatory mood for the Worlds.
