After their stupendous performance in the Olympics, the Indian boxing heroes will be back in the ring again.
Beijing heroes off to Moscow for World Cup boxing but the question is can they repeat the Olympic show
MUMBAI: After their stupendous performance in the Olympics, the Indian boxing heroes will be back in the ring again. This time in the season-ending World Cup, to be held in Moscow from December 10 to 14.
But with top eight boxers from around the world taking part in 11 weight categories, it remains to be seen how far the Indians can go, especially after being informed very late about their participation.
“We will try our best in Moscow, but we came to know about our participation very late. As a result we may not be as fit as we were during the Olympics,” said Akhil Kumar, who made it to the bantamweight quarterfinals at Beijing. “It’s our fault as well. We should have been training.”
The boxers were in Guwahati for the Women’s Asian Boxing Championships when they were informed that they had to go for the World Cup.
Besides Akhil, the Indian team consist of Jitender Kumar, who qualified for the World Cup on back of a quarterfinal appearance in Beijing. AL Lakra and Dinesh Kumar are other members of the squad. Both lost in the first round at Beijing but received a wild card for the event. The team leaves for Moscow on Wednesday morning.
The one name missing from the list is Olympic bronze-medallist Vijender Singh, who has not recovered from a back injury, which has been troubling him for quite sometime.
“Since his bronze-winning effort in Beijing, he has not been able to rest properly. He has been travelling all over the country, as a result of which his lower back injury has aggravated. So he will not travel to Moscow,” said Indian boxing coach GS Sandhu.
The Indians are hoping that boost in their confidence after the Beijing Games performance will see them through. “I’m always confident of whatever I do and it helped me in making it to the last eight at Beijing. I might not be on top of my game. But with my hunger for success, I hope to topple the big names in Moscow,” Jitender Kumar said.
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