The Indian boxing team has departed for the Asian Boxing Championship which is scheduled to be held in Jordon from 30th June. A 10-member team will look forward to enter the ring and improve upon last edition's performance of one silver and two bronze medals. The 19-year-old Shiva Thapa reacted by quoting that T-shirt par likho ya na likho, dil mein hai desh ka naam on the eve of Indian team's departure for the event.
This will be the third tournament for the Indian pugilists under the International boxing body's (AIBA) flag since the Indian Boxing Federation was prohibited last year. Chief coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu revealed on Friday that the ban did have a psychological effect that they don’t have a representation in the competition.
Regarding the change in the scoring system effective from the Asian Championship, Sandhu claimed that this is the first time the boys will be playing under the new scoring system. He added that change is always welcome as it inserts spice and makes the sport entertaining.
About the squad, the coach informed that there are a number of new faces in the team as they have a long-term strategy with a target on the World Championship in October. Keeping that in mind, young or old boys have been selected from the trials they had. To be precise, he added that Vikas Malik (60kg) is their special experiment while Satish Kumar (+91kg) and Jagroop Singh (81kg) will be making their debuts.
The team is a mix of youth and experience which also includes Olympian L Devendro and Shiva Thapa. In addition, the team consists of Commonwealth Games gold medalist Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Dinesh Kumar (91kg), who competed in the 81kg category earlier. Akhil Kumar protégé young Mandeep Jangra will participate in the 69kg category while Sukhdeep Singh (22) will plunge into the 75kg spot. Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Vijender Singh is not taking part in this event.
