Indian boxers head to Ireland for training trip

The Olympic-bound Indian boxing team, except Vikas Krishan (69kg), will head to Ireland tomorrow for a fortnight-long training-cum-competition trip ahead of next month’s London Games.

The trip is aimed at getting acclimatised to European conditions to ensure that the boxers don’t have trouble adjusting to the weather in London during the Olympics.

“We are going there to get acclimatised and we will also be sparring with local boxers and other teams which will come there,” national coach, Gurbax Singh Sandhu said.

Seven Indian boxers - L Devendro Singh (49kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg), Manoj Kumar (64kg), Vikas Krishan, Vijender Singh (75kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) - have qualified for the Olympics.

Of these, Vikas will miss the trip as he will be appearing for his graduation examinations.

“He has to appear for his BA exams and it is important for him. But it won’t affect his preparations, he will join us for the next trip to Europe in the second week of July,” Sandhu said.

The boxers will return to the country on July 1 after which they will train in Patiala for about 10 days. This would be followed by another trip to London and Ireland from where the squad will head straight to the British capital for the Games.