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With Rio on mind, Jitendra Kumar named boxing coach

The desperate situation has come after star woman boxer MC Mary Kom and L Sarita Devi failed to qualify for the Olympics last week.

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With only Shiva Thapa managing to qualify till date for the Rio Olympics, the sports ministry has now decided to rope in two-time Olympian Jitendra Kumar as coach for the last World Olympic Qualification event in Baku, Azerbaijan, from June 16 to 25.

The desperate situation has come after star woman boxer MC Mary Kom and L Sarita Devi failed to qualify for the Olympics last week.

The Baku championship will be the final chance for any Indian to qualify for Rio and that's why the sports ministry doesn't want to take any chances with the Indian men's boxing team, which is currently training at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala. As per the ministry's own estimate, boxing should get at least two medals at the Rio.

Jitendra represented India at the Sydney and Athens Olympics. His silver medal finish at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur CWG was a special achievement as it came after a 24-year gap since 1974 Christchurch CWG. Later, he went on to win bronze at the Manchester CWG in the next edition.

Jitendra's appointment has come at a very crucial time. Indian middle-weight and heavy-weight pugilists have almost a fortnight to prepare for the qualifier. Given his experience and stature, the ministry is confident that his appointment would be of great value addition to the team. Jitendra has recently graduated from NIS Patiala with a diploma in sports coaching.

Jitendra, who hails from Bhiwani, will be assisting chief national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu at the national camp. His appointment has come close on the heels of another recent addition to the support staff, former Indian boxer Dharmendra Singh Yadav.

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