Indian boxers’ CWG outing has shown that the sport is in its best phase lately in country, giving sense of optimism going into Asian Games
Indian boxing has hit a purple patch lately, if the results in key tournaments this year and the collective strength of the Indian contingent for the Asian Games were to be the two major yardsticks.
The country's pugilists bagged nine medals — including three gold — from the 2018 Commonwealth Games (CWG), the best ever haul by Indian boxers at the mega event.
All the eight men returned home with a medal, while Mary Kom shone the brightest among the four women.
Five of the eight men that were part of India's CWG squad will also board the flight to Jakarta, while the addition of the seasoned Shiva Thapa — who missed out on the CWG berth — only adds to the might of the Indian boxing group for the Asiad.
The women's team has fresh faces, with all the three boxers — Sonia Lather, Pavitra and Sarjubala Devi — going to the Asian Games without the experience of having fought at the Gold Coast CWG.
But while Sonia is a 2017 Asian Championship silver-medallist, young Sarjubala and Pavitra have been described as "very good performers" by Indian women boxing coach Raffaele Bergamasco.
Thus, on their day, each of the 10 boxers heading to Jakarta can have a realistic shot at the podium.
"We have quite a strong squad for the Asian Games. Anybody in the squad can win a medal," Santiago Nieva, Indian boxing's high performance director, told DNA.
One will have to go a long way back to remember the last time that was the case with an Indian boxing contingent heading to a mega continental event.
No wonder then that the Swedish coach, who was appointed to take charge of the men's team last year, believes that this is the best phase Indian boxing has seen for quite a few years.
"This is the best phase I've seen in my time in India," Nieva said. "I hope it will continue to become even better.
"I think we're looking at a long-term process. And the objective is to take Indian boxing up to the level of the best countries in the world.
"We are not there yet. We need to improve many things. But what we have done so far shows that we are in the right direction," he added.
That direction is down to the route taken by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) as well as the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), sending Indian boxers on multiple exposure tours and tournaments.
"We are getting good support from SAI. We have been playing all the major tournaments in the world. Our No. 1 team took part in two crucial tournaments lately, and in both those tournaments, we ended up being the No. 2 ranked team," Nieva, an International Boxing Association (AIBA) three-star coach, said.
It showed in the way the entire contingent performed at the Gold Coast CWG, getting the same number of medals as the top-ranked country in England.
"In CWG, we ended up as the second ranked team. So, we have a system where we're getting good experience and good exposure. We have done what we can do get the good results," he added.
Indian pugilists will aim to continue that trend of good results come the Asian Games, though it will be a much sterner test than the CWG.
"The Asian continent has grown stronger. There are many countries who have world class boxers, especially Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan who are producing a lot of world champions and Olympic gold medallists. So, if you compare to CWG countries, apart from England and Ireland, there are not many countries who produce world champions in boxing," Nieva said.
India won five medals in boxing at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, with Mary Kom giving the lone golden touch and the men managing to add only a couple of bronze medals.
Mary Kom won't be there in Jakarta due to the fewer weight categories this time around, but Nieva hopes that the men's squad will be able to step up and ensure that the country matches its 2014 tally.
"We don't have the heavy weight categories now, where us used to traditionally do well at the Asian Games. But I think we should be able to do something similar (to 2014) in terms of medals overall, both men and women," Nieva said.
"Last time, women won medals in all weights, which is pretty difficult. The men won only two bronze medals, and I'm sure we can do better than that.
"So, we have set a goal of five medals. Ten boxers, five medals.
"It will be tough, but we have a strong team and all are boxers are capable of beating good opponents. And, I'm sure we will," he added.
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