We hope to better 2006 tally: Vijender Singh

How have the preparations been leading up to the Games?
We have been strengthening the Indian boxing wall brick by brick since March 2009 and I must say that we as a unit are pretty well prepared. Training is going very well at Patiala. For this CWG, our specific goal is to deal with African boxers, who are pretty strong and have lightning quick footwork.

So, specific skills and footwork has been
our focus.

The squad looks spruced up with champions like you, Suranjoy, Dinesh, Akhil and many others. Your analysis…
We won six medals in the last Games (Melbourne). We have to better that mark. Eight to nine medals should be the target. It depends on the form of the players. We have the best squad for sometime now. The home crowd will make a difference too. We will give our best performance this year. More so, as the Games are happening in India, the onus would be on us to bring glory to the nation. The team picked also looks strong but we should remember that it is finally about the form they show in the ring that matters.

Lot of big names pulled out. Has it made the competition much easier?
I don’t believe it makes a difference. I mean, if you look at boxing, the sport has got the maximum number of entries. The Games will bring out a new star.

Doping menace has struck Indian athletes. Has it brought shame to the Games?
It isn’t a shame for us. It happens all over the world. You can’t deny that it is their mistake. But I spoke to some of them and believe me they knew very little about their supplement intakes. Some of them don’t even know what their supplements contain because of their lack of understanding. And the banned substance, they have been caught for, in any case wasn’t of any use to them.

So many issues cropped up before the Games in Delhi? Does that take away the shine from the Games?
Not really. I mean you cannot sit down talking about dengue, malaria, flood situation and all. Trust me the infrastructure built is world class. Even the facilities for the Youth Commonwealth Games held in Pune were top-notch. We need to look at the positives. It’s time we leave all that behind. This will be beneficial in near future.

You are World No.1 and you will be expected to win nothing less than gold…
I have learnt to deal with it. Since Beijing Games, I have realised that I have to move ahead from bronze. Gold has eluded me all this while and I think this is my best chance. I don’t believe that because of the No.1 ranking it should be expected.

Even if I would not have been No.1, the aim of any athlete including me, would be nothing less than gold. I am hoping that I do well here and carry the same form to the Asian Games.