Home World Youth Boxing Champion Vikas Krishan was tamed by his Lithuanian opponent Petrauskas Evaldas by a narrow margin of 4:3 points in the semifinals of the 60 kgs (Light Weight category) of the 1st Youth Olympic Games Boxing at Singapore. In the World Youth Championships at Baku, Vikas had defeated the Lithuanian by the same identical margin of 4:3 pts to clinch the Gold. This time Petrauskas got his revenge and edged out Vikas. Vikas Krishan now has to play against Echeverria Daniel of Mexico on 24 August, who was the other losing semifinalist in 60 kgs. The winner will get the Bronze Medal (Third Place) and the loser will be awarded the 4th place. Shiva Thapa’s opponent in the finals of the 54 kgs on 25 August has been identified as Ramirez Robeisy Eloy of Cuba who defeated Michelus Dawid of Poland in the other semifinals of today. Incidentally Shiva Thapa had lost to the Cuban Boxer at the Youth World Championships at Baku and had to settle for the Silver Medal there. Now is an opportunity to take revenge of that earlier defeat and try and win the Gold Medal for India.
Lanky Shiva Thapa who hails from Guwahati, Assam and is trained at the Army Sports Institute, Pune under National Coach Hony Capt G Manoharan, entered the finals of the 1st Youth Olympic Games at Singapore by comprehensively defeating Zack Davies of Great Britain Boxing on points 14:4. Although the Welsh Boxer had the height advantage over Shiva Thapa, it was the lethal combination of the Indian Boxer’s deft left hooks and right straight punches which gave Thapa a solid lead of 5:1 pts at the end of 1st Round. In the 2nd Round Shiva attacked relentlessly and increased his lead to 10:3 pts. In the 3rd and final round, Shiva Thapa was confidence personified as he danced his way to win the bout at 14:4 pts. Shiva Thapa thanked his Coach G Manoharan for training him tactically and also giving him sound advice to change strategy depending upon the opponent. Shiva who had sustained an injury in his wrist during the world Youth Championships at Baku wherein he had to settle for the Silver, said that he has fully recovered from that pain. He is now being provided Medical Cover by the Team Doctor Dr TK Tamta who is the Secretary of the IABF Medical Commission and encouraged by his Asst Coach Sub Maj BB Mohanty also of Army Sports Institute, Pune. His opponent in the finals will be decided in the evening in the second semifinal of this weight category. India’s Vikas Krishan will face Petrauskas Evaldas of Lithuania in the semifinals of 60 kgs in the evening.
The boxing tournament of the 1st Youth Olympic Games got underway today in the International Convention Centre right in downtown Singapore. A total of 66 boxers from 49 countries (six in each weight category) are vying for medals in probably the last major international boxing tournament with the eleven-category system. The qualification process was very stringent in that only the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medalists of the Youth World Boxing Championships at Baku made the cut for the 1st Youth Olympics. The other 22 places were allotted by AIBA to those Countries that unfortunately could not get their boxers qualified for the Youth Olympics. India had two boxers who qualified ie. Vikas Krishan (Gold Medal) and Shiva Thapa (Silver Medal) at the Qualifying Tournament in Baku. The quarterfinals of the five lower weights were contested in the afternoon - two boxers per category had received byes, making it straight to the semifinals. India’s Vikas Krishan - one of the highly rated boxers of the 1st Youth Olympic Games, with a Youth World Championships gold medal and an Elite Indian National Championships title under his belt and who is from the Army Sports Institute, Pune - had a strong opponent in Armenian Hrayr Matevosyan. At the end of Round 1 the scoreline read 1:1 pts. However in the 2nd Round, Vikas made intelligent moves by side stepping tactically as directed by his Coach Mr G Manoharan who is himself a former Olympian Boxer (Moscow Olympics 1980), whereby his opponents defences were opened upand chalked up an unsurmountable 6:1 pts lead. In the 3rd Round Vikas scored one more pt and maintained his lead to win with a final score of 7:2 pts in the quarterfinal contest and move into the semifinals after a tough bout. "No, it was not difficult," said Vikas, who has been boxing for just four years. "I had stronger opponents at the Indian Elite Championships, and I want to win this Youth Olympics. My bigger goal is the London Games in 2012." Coach G Manoharan, Asst Coach BB Mohanty and the Team Doctor Dr TK Tamta were ecstatic at this wonderful victory. The Asst Coach and the Team Doctor have been sent at the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation’s expense as it was felt that the two Indian Boxers needed to be fully supported in terms of Medical Assistance as well as two Coaches / Seconds are required in the corner while the bouts were in progress. Vikas now meets his Youth World Championship Silver Medalist opponent Petrauskas Evaldas of Lithuania in the semi finals on 22 August 2010. In the other quarterfinals today Petrauskas had defeated Vahrenholt Thomas of Germany by a score of 6:2 pts. India’s other entry Shiva Thapa who is also from Army Sports Institute, Pune and a Silver Medalist at the Youth World Championships in 54 kgs got a bye and moved into the semifinals. He now meets Zack Davies(GBR) who is the 2009 British Youth Champion on 22 August 2010 who had also got a bye into the semifinals.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has selected India's Jay Kowli as one of the 15 Neutral Technical Officials for the forthcoming inaugural Youth Olympic Games to be held in Singapore during 18 to 25 August 2010.
The governing world body on this important Olympic sport selects only the best Referee Judges for this very important world Games and thus Mr. Kowli's selection is certainly a matter of pride for Indian Sportworld for sure. IOA honchos as well as Central Minister of State for Sports & YA Mr. Pratik Patil personally called Mr Kowli to compliment him for this achievement.
Indian boxers Shiva Thapa (54kg) and Vikas Krishan (60kg) continued their rampaging form and assured themselves of at least a silver medal each by storming into the finals of the World Youth Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.??Asian Youth champion Vikas pummelled Germany's Thomas Vahrenholt 8-0, while Shiva was equally dominating in his 11-3 triumph over Alexandru Marin of Romania.?”Both boxers displayed brilliant skills and presented right mix of caution and aggression to beat their fancied opponents,” says coach G Manoharan about the victories. Shiva will now be up against Cuba's Robeisy Ramirez Carrazana, who beat off stiff competition from Poland's Dawid Micheles to win 11-7.??Vikas, on the other hand, faces Lithuania's Evaldas Petrauskas, who was leading 8-1 against Australia's Brett Mather before the referee stopped the contest in his favour.?? Both the boxers have already qualified for Youth Olympics, and if they manage to win in tomorrow’s finals, then they would have a great advantage over the opponents when they meet in the mega event.
India's Boxing hero married Poonam, the Best Boxer at the Youth Women National Championship of 2002 and a IBF qualified naional Judge. A daughter of Boxing Coach Sube Singh Beniwal and presently active as a Coach in the Academic faculty of the NS NI S Patiala, Poonam has done MSc Sport Business Management from England (UK, in 2008-2009). She also has Masters in Physical Education and has qualified the NET exam too. Poonam was All Over Topper in the Coaching Diploma Course during 2006-2007. Incidentally Poonam's sister 'Preeti Beniwal' is India's intrnational boxer !
When asked about this sudden turn of events, India's Humble Hero quipped . . . "Sir, today whatever I am, it is because of Boxing. And look at my destiny that I get a girl from Boxing family as my life partner. Please bless us with ur best wishes !" All the Best, Akhil . . . India Boxing is very happy and wish you two a very happy married life ! Jay Kowl
Buoyed by the resounding success in the conduct of the XXX Energy Drink 5th Commonwealth Boxing Championships at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi from March 10 -18, 2010 and the outstanding performances of the Indian Boxers in winning six Gold Medals as well as accolades that are pouring in from all the participating countries and their officials, the Indian Boxing Federation has decide to submit its bid to the Asian Boxing Confederation for the Asian Pre Olympic Qualifying Tournament to be held in 2011. Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) also plans to study the feasibility of organising one major International Boxing Tournament every year starting from 2011 which will have AIBA 3 Star /2 Star Rating, so that top Boxing Nations of the World can be invited to participate. Considering the tremendous support that IBF has received from the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and the Sports Authority of India in not only organising the Commonwealth Boxing Championships successfully from March 10 – 18, 2010, but also by being the Boxing Federation’s biggest sponsor in terms of organising National Coaching Camps virtually throughout the year for Men & Women in Senior, Junior and Sub Junior category as well as providing sufficient foreign exposures as well as Boxing Training Equipment which includes Boxing Gloves, Headguards, Boxing Rings etc to our teams as per the approved Long Term Development Plan and additional foreign exposures by the Jt Secretary (ISD) in preparation for Commonwealth Games 2010 and Asian Games 2010, there is no reason as to why Indian Boxing should not continue scaling hieghts which were earlier termed as impossible. Incidentally, what many people do not know is that literally all the boxers of the Indian Contingent in the Commonwealth Boxing Championships starting from the Stars Vijender Singh and Akhil Kumar to the freshers in the team were Sports Authority of India (SAI) Trainees under various schemes be it SAI Hostel Bhiwani or SAI Imphal or other SAI Centres in India. Indian Boxing Federation is fortunate to have teamed up with ‘Percept’ as its Marketing Partner, who had left no stone unturned to ensure that the Commonwealth Boxing Championships held at Talkatora Stadium last week were a grand success. The dynamic leadership of Mr Shailender Singh, the Managing Director of ‘Percept’ was evident in all activities undertaken by his team during the Championships. IBF is positive that with the support of ‘Percept’, India will be able to prepare a winning bid to the Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) so that the Pre Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2011 is allotted to India. A special word of thanks to NDMC and specially its Chairman Mr Parimal Rai for the fantastic Talkatora Stadium which is really world class and was appreciated by all the participant Boxers, Coaches, Managers, Referees / Judges, Jury Members and the Technical Delegate Mr Pat McCrory from Ireland. The NDMC Staff be it Mr Anand Tiwari, Mr Gulati or Mr RK Sharma and their dedicated team of workers toiled in earnest night and day, to provide excellent facilities for the Commonwealth Boxing Championships. The security personnel which included Delhi Police as well as other agencies who supported them by providing security cover round the clock, did their jobs meticulously, ably led by Mr JK Sharma, IPS, Jt Commissioner of Police (Commonwealth Games Planning) and Mr Amit Roy, Addl Dy Commissioner of Police, North East District, Delhi who was the local Force Commander at Talkatora Stadium. As the 5th Commonwealth Boxing Championships was also adopted as a Test Event by the Organising Committee, Commonwealth Games 2010, whole hearted support was extended by Mr Suresh Kalmadi, MP, Chairman CWG D2010 as well as Mr ASV Prasad, Jt DG (Sports) and his team from various Functional Areas to make the event a great success. Many other agencies such as Doctors from Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Dope Control Organisation of CWG OC, Delhi Transport Corporation etc came forward voluntarily and worked sincerely day-in and day-out for the success of the Championships. IBF and Percept take this opportunity of thanking the Title Sponsors XXX Energy Drink and other Associate Sponsors such as DLF, ONGC, Siyarams, Reebok etc who sponsored this Championship. Their help was instrumental in meeting various expenses involved in the conduct of the Championships. The Press & Media (Electronic and Print) played a major role in giving due importance to the XXX Energy Drink 5th Commonwealth Boxing Championships in their respective TV Channels, Newspapers, Magazines etc despite the fact that events such as IPL Cricket, World Cup Hockey etc were were being organised simultaneously. The tremendous media support ensured that the boxers converted their chances into six Gold Medals at the Championships and thus annexed the Team Championship Trophy by pushing Team England to the Second spot. Special mention needs to be made about the manner in which Doordarshan covered the whole Event Live from 12 March – 17 March 2010. Our sincere thanks to Director General, Doordarshan, Mrs Aruna Sharma, IAS and Mr Anand Syal, Dy Director (Sports), Doordarshan for the excellent coverage of the complete Commonwealth Boxing Championships right from day one till the end of the ceremonies on the final day. The boxing fans of India have sent their appreciation through emails and phone calls about the good job done by DD Sports! Last but not the least, the contribution made by the Members of the Indian Boxing Federation starting from the Office bearers of IBF to State Presidents / Secretaries / Coaches / Boxers was stupendous. Each and every one of them worked hard day-in and day-out for the success of the Commonwealth Championships. Dr Nirmolak Singh, Chairman Medical Commission and his Team of Doctors including Dope Control Cell, functioned efficiently during the Championship. Competition Manager Mr Lenny D’Gama supported by Venue Manager (Sports) Mr SR Singh pulled of a flawless and technically sound Commonwealth Boxing Championship with the support of National Technical Officials who had come in from all over the Country as well as the Volunteers who were selected for this event as well the CWG 2010. These Volunteers who were at the stadium as well as Liaison Officers (LOs) to the Teams / Jury Members became an integral part of the Championships that many of the participating countries have written to me stating that they would prefer to have the same LOs for the main Commonwealth Games in 2010. The contribution of Mr Rakesh Thakran as Secretary (Admin.) IBF, Lt Col AS Dagar (Retd), Executive Director, IBF, Mr Narottam Singh Rawat, Director, International Relations IBF, Mr Rajkumar and the office staff of IBF . Chief National Coach Mr GS Sandhu and his team of coaches and support staff have conveyed their sentiments that if the Indian Public and spectators continue to support Indian Boxers and Indian Boxing , the day is not far when a large number of Indian Pugilists will mount the Olympic Podium and win accolades for the Country!!!
Amandeep, Jai Bhagwan enter finals at Commonwealth boxing ...more
Suranjoy was clearly overwhelmed by the occasion and while speaking to the media stated that his next objective is to win Gold Medals at the Commonwealth Championships in March 2010, Commonwealth Games in October 2010 and the Asian Games in November 2010 as stepping stones in the run-up to the London Olympics 2012. His compatriot Nanao Singh was lurking in the background, clearly unhappy at his first round exit in this championships. A similar scene was enacted way back in March 2008 at this very airport when the Indian Team had returned from the 2nd Olympic Qualifying Tournament at Bangkok. At that time Akhil Kumar was the hero who had returned with a Gold Medal and the title of the Best Boxer of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament and Vijender Singh who did not make the cut then was lurking in the background. Later on Vijender made amends and went on to win many laurels including the Bronze at the Beijing Olympics and also another Bronze at the World Championships at Milan in 2009. Similarly Nanao will have many more opportunities to prove his mettle in the future.
Suranjoy has been a revelation to Indian Boxing this year. Having been in the wilderness for nearly two years in 2007 & 2008, he made a tremendous comeback with a superlative performance at the Asian Championships 2009 at Zhuhai, China and winning the Gold Medal for India after a gap of 15 years (last Gold was by Rajkumar Sangwan in 1994 at the Asian Championships, Teheran). It was all the more sweet and special as he defeated a Chinese boxer who was being touted as a sure shot Gold Medalist and was being cheered vociferously by the local crowd. His performance at the World Championships 2009 at Milan was a heartbreak for Indian boxing aficionados as he lost on equal points 10:10 and on a judges countback score to Nyambayar Tsogtsat of Mongolia who then went on to win the Silver Medal at the same World Championships.
Hence, Suranjoy had a burning desire to make
amends by defeating the Mongolian at this Championships. Unfortunately
that was not to happen as the Mongolian boxer was disqualified for being
overweight or else they would have probably met in this event. Suranjoy
s feat of first defeating the Beijing Olympics Bronze Medalist from Italy
in the quarterfinals and then the Mexican boxer in the semifinals and
finally Nordine Oubaali of France who was a World Championship Chicago
2007 Bronze Medalist in a most convincing manner made it possible for
the Jury to select him as the Best Boxer of the President s Cup 2009.
The good news for Indian boxing fans is that the style that Suranjoy adopts
is now ideally suited for International Boxing. In the Ring, he is a bundle
of sheer energy who literally hurtles himself at the opponent as a ball
of fire and unleashes punches with stunning power and lightning speed
to which his adversaries have no answer. It is sincerely hoped that he
retains his unique technique and improves these important factors in the
days to come.
A photograph of Suranjoy and Nanao Singh on their arrival at Delhi International
Airport as well as another of the Best Boer s Award Certificate received
by Suranjoy are attached to this report.
Indian Youth Boxers mesmerized their opponents in a clinical and precise manner with Devendro Singh Laishram leading the pack by defeating Liang Zhang of China on pts 12:1 in the 48 kgs. Kishan Thapa was the lone boxer who lost to his opponent from Uzbekistan in the preliminary round of Day 4 of the Asian Youth Championships at Tehran, Iran.
48 kgs Devendro Singh Laishram defeated Liang Zhang of China on pts 12:1
51 kgs Srinivas Surbetti defeated Mirbek Sherov of Kyrgyzstan on pts 2:0.
60 kgs Vikash Krishan defeated Md Nasouh Almahyani of Syria by disqualification in the 2nd Round.
69 kgs – Kishan Thapa lost to Mamajanov Ahmad of Uzbekistan on pts 1:4.
Confirming the development, IBF secretary general Col PK Muralidharan Raja said Marykom gave her version of the unsavoury incident which took place on Monday after she lost her 46 kg quarter-final bout to Pinki Jangwar of Haryana.
Raja said that something prompted the ace pugilist to lose her composure. Marykom told us that she had gracefully accepted defeat. Things were okay when she was leaving the ring. But all went wrong when she alighted from the ring, leading her to have a go at the judges, he added. Marykom also promised not to make any derogatory statements in future.
Having considered her past performances, both at the national and international levels, we have decided to revoke the temporary suspension. Marykom is a world champion and senior boxer and the IBF decision to punish her was to set an example before others, Raja said. He also expressed confidence that Marykom, being an ambassador of women boxing, would set examples in the sport arena to promote the game. Raja also addressed the participating boxers explaining them the essentials of good behaviour. With the ban revoked, Marykom can now be part of the six-member India squad for the upcoming Indoor Asian Games to be held at Hanoi in Vietnam later this month.
Marykom lost her bout against Pinky on count back and the five-member jury had to step in with their judgement after they were locked in a 15-15 stalemate. My defeat was planned. It was a conspiracy by Thakaran and country s chief boxing coach Anoop Kumar. The Haryana lobby in the IBF is responsible for the whole mess (involving boxers from the Northeast). Indian boxing will head nowhere if such activities are allowed to continue, an Marykom had alleged on Tuesday.
On Thursday though she had a change of heart and as they say all s well that ends well.
Top Indian boxers Thokchom Nanao Singh, Suranjoy Singh and Dilbagh Singh warmed up nicely for the season ahead by clinching the titles in their respective weight categories at the fourth Super Cup Boxing Championship here on Sunday.
But another boxer and member of SAF Games squad, Chhote Lal Yadav of Services, bit the dust in the 69 kg category against his less fancied rival Sandeep Kumar of East Zone on the final day of the championship at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana.
Nanao, all set to take part in an international tournament in China next month, and Services teammate Suranjoy -? who is to lead the national challenge at the SAF Games in Dhaka later this month -- made light work of their rivals to clinch the titles in the 48 and 51 kg weight divisions respectively.
Manipur-born Nanao, India's first-ever Asian junior world champion, conquered Amandeep Singh of Railways, who is set for Dhaka, 10-3 in the final of the lightweight class. Nanao took a 4-1 lead in the opening round and then increased the lead gradually to easily pocket the bout. But Suranjoy was given a tough fight by Sunil Kumar of North Zone in the opening round before he showed his technical superiority in the next two to emerge winner by 5-3 margin.
Dilbagh of Railways fought an aggressive battle with Services rival Jai Singh Patil for the welterweight crown and won with a huge 13-6 margin. Dilbagh took a handy 7-4 lead in the first round and then led 11-5 in the second before slowing down in the third to emerge comfortable winner. But the real surprise came in the 69 kg final when Sandeep Singh shocked Chhote Lal. Even though the scores were level 7-7 after three rounds the former was declared the winner on the basis of individual scores. Yadav took a mandatory eight-count after being floored by his rival in the second round and that was the turning point in the contest.
The bantamweight (54 kg) gold went to Narjit Singh of Services who outpointed M Venkatesh of Railways 9-4 in the final.
Suranjoy Singh has become the First Indian Boxer
to win the Gold Medal at the President s Cup and also the First Indian
to be declared the Best Boxer of any Senior Men s Boxing Championships
at the World level. In a fantastic display of raw power and controlled
aggression, Suranjoy simply decimated his French opponent Nordine Oubaali
who was a Bronze Medalist at the World Championships 2007 as well as a
participant at the Beijing Olympics 2008.
Coach Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu had analysed that the French boxer was an
aggressive boxer and therefore Suranjoy was asked to go all out in the
first Round. Suranjoy with his explosive straight lefts as well as crisp
uppercuts and right crosses landed some telling blows on Nordine to lead
3:0 at the end of Round 1. The score at the end of Round 2 was 7:0 for
Suranjoy. In the third Round, both boxers scored a point apiece and ended
the bout with the score reading 8:1 in favour of Suranjoy Singh.
Suranjoy was thrilled beyond words as his hand was raised as the Winner
of the Final bout against Nordine Oubaali. After he came down from the
Ring he remarked to me on the phone that he is now stepping nearer to
his ultimate dream of winning the Gold Medal at the London Olympic Games
2012. The Best Boxer s Award by AIBA for Suranjoy s outstanding performance
at the President s Cup 2009 is the first time that an Indian boxer is
being honoured at the World level in a Senior Men s Boxing Championships.
Hony Capt Padam Bahadur Mall was the last Indian Boxer who was declared
the Best Boxer of a major event ie. Asian Games 1962. Thus Suranjoy has
surpassed all expectations and has rounded up a momentous and eventful
year 2009 for the Indian Boxing Family with this superb performance at
the President s Cup at Baku, Azerbaijan.
This Award is indeed an honor for Indian Boxing Family as well as Mr Albert Noronha, former Chairman of Indian Boxing Federation Ring Officials Commision and former Secretary of Madhya Pradesh Boxing Association as also a former National Silver Medalist Boxer in the Nineteen Fifties. Mr Albert Noronha richly deserves much more name , fame and acclaim for his dedicated contribution of more than 50 years to Indian Boxing. We are sure that other Government Agencies will also acknowledge his contribution to Indian Boxing.
Well done Sir! Congratulations for your fantastic achievement.
VIJENDER , AKHIL AND SURANJOY SINGH GEARING UP FOR COMMONWEALTH BOXING CHAMPIONSHIPS AT DELHI FROM 12 MARCH
Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar, Suranjoy Singh and the rest of the Indian Boxing Team are raring to enter the Ring at the ‘XXX Energy Drink 5th Commonwealth Boxing Championships’ scheduled to be held at the Talkatora Stadium , New Delhi from March 12 – 17, 2010. The Commonwealth Boxing Championships which are being held for the first time in India will also be a Test Event for the Commonwealth Games 2010. Boxers from 17 Countries are participating in this prestigious event which is being organized by Indian Boxing Federation and promoted by Percept The Official date for arrival of International Teams is 10 March but a few Teams are coming early due to problems in flight connections and the necessity of acclimatization. The Opening Ceremony of the Championship will be at 2.00 pm on 12 March 2010 at the Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi. Entry will be by Tickets and Accreditation only. The Ticketing details will be publicized from 09 March 2010 by the Agency to whom it has been entrusted with. The Boxing bouts will be in two sessions daily ie. first session at 2.00 pm till 5.00 pm and the second session from 6.00 pm till 9.00 pm or till the bouts end for the day.
The Media personnel who are keen to cover the Event are requested to submit their application forms duly completed for accreditation and Police Verification to Indian Boxing Federation immediately and the sample forms are attached. It may kindly be noted that as there is no parking facility for vehicles near the Talkatora Stadium, the accredited media will be provided with a ‘pick and drop’ shuttle service from the Commonwealth Organising Committee Office Area opposite Jantar Mantar next to YMCA, to the Stadium on a scheduled time table starting from 12.15 pm on 12 March 2010 every 30 mins till the end of the bouts in the evening. Similarly the shuttle will continue from the Talkatora Stadium back to CWG OC Office location.
The schedule of events on 11 March 2010 is as follows:
1700 hrs Team Officials (Managers / Coaches) Meeting at Hotel Ashoka
1800 hrs Referees & Judges Meeting at Hotel Ashoka
1900 hrs Press Conference at Hotel Ashoka
This is also to inform the Media personnel that Doordarshan is the Official host Broadcaster for the Championship. A special Media Zone has been created in the Talkatora Stadium where the Press & Media get to interview the boxers immediately after their bouts and their photos / video recordings of their bouts can be had. This area will be operated by Percept.
In addition to the above, there is a Press & Media Lounge as well as a Work Area with facilities for refreshments as well as carrying out their reports with a TV Screen placed which will be showing the proceedings of the bouts in progress live. All visitors are requested to adhere to the security instructions which are in vogue for such events as is being done for the Hockey World Cup in Progress and especially the fact that items such as loose coinages will not be permitted inside the stadium due to security reasons.
Looking forward to support, assistance and wide publicity / coverage of the XXX Energy Drink 5th Commonwealth Boxing Championships by the Press & Media (Electronic & Print) in the same manner in which you have been doing so far for Boxing whereby our Indian Boxers have done phenomenally well in the last two years at all International Competitions.
Arjuna Awardee Laishram Sarita Devi and World Championship Silver Medalist Usha Nagisetty stormed into the Medal Round of the 3rd Asian Indoor Games at Hanoi, Vietnam today in 54 kgs and 57 kgs respectively.
In the fourth bout of the day, Sarita was pitted against Ayako Minowa of Japan in the quarter finals of the 54 kgs wt category. Although the japanese boxer did put up a brave fight, she was no match for the agile and confident who kept jabbing and scoring at will. At the end of Round 1 Sarita was ahead by 6:2 pts which increased to 8:2 pts after Round 2 and 12:3 pts after Round 3 and finally 16:5 after Round 4. She now meets Lien Doan Thi of Vietnam in the Semi finals on 02 November.
In the seventh bout of the day, Usha Nagisetty took on Koroleva Oxana of Kazakhstan in the quarter finals of the 57 kgs wt category. At the beginning of Round 1 it appeared as if Usha would have her hands full since the Kazakh girl was taller and had a better reach. Round 1 was a tentative and cautious start for both boxers and both could not penetrate each others defence and it ended with 0:0 pts score. In Round 2, Usha scored the first point but the Kazakh was pressing hard and got her pt too. After that there was no looking back for Usha who changed her tactics and successfully attacked continuously to notch up an 8:1 pts lead. At the end of Round 3 the score was 9:1 pts and the 4th Round ended with Usha leading by 12:1 pts. Her next opponent in the semifinals on 02 November will be Chung Ngo Thi of Vietnam who defeated Sudarshini Niluka of Sri Lanka by a score of 14:3 pts in the other quarter finals today.
In tomorrow ie 01 November bouts, Mary Kom will face Ting Lo Yueh of Taipei in the 46 kgs, while in the 51 kgs Chhoto Loura meets Kumari Nilmini of Sri Lanka in the 51 kgs wt category.
"SUPERCUPIV
!" National tourney of elite boxers from 13th-17th
January 2010 !....
After
three successful occasions, Maharashtra Boxing Association is once again
going to host the 4th Inter-zonal Boxing Championship under the auspices
of Indian Boxing Federation during 12th to 18th January 2010. Though technically
titled as the 4th Interzonal National Boxing Championships, the event
is also billed as ‘The Super Cup of Indian Boxing as the prestigious
event that has been introduced to allow the real talent to surface at
right time at right place on Indian Boxing scene !
One of the obvious lacunae of the national championships
is that not all the best boxers get a chance to participate, since each
team can only field one boxer in one weight category. The third and fourth
ranked boxers in the top teams like Services and Railways and Police are
often better than the top boxers of the lower ranked civilian teams. But
due to the format of the national championships the weaker teams send
sub-standard novice boxers while the best teams cannot enter their third
and fourth ranked boxers who are much more better trained and skillful.
To overcome this, we had conceptualized the idea of an elite tournament and presented to the fraternity in 2003-04. Indian Boxing world was thus divided into six zones i.e. the east, the west, the north, the south, the north-east and the central zone. Board Boxers belonging to or based in various states were allowed to represent the respective states in zonal meets to qualify for the final showdown. [ For example, some of Maharashtra s top boxers cannot represent the state since Services, Railways and others employ them. These two teams alone recruit over 500 boxers every year. For the Super Cup states were allowed to field the second string boxers from the strong Services, Railways and other Board boxers based in their states. Thereby these well trained boxers get a chance to participate instead of losing their place to many a sub-standard boxers who many a times are some civilian novices ] The six zones, after eliminations, send two teams each. To these 12 are added the top two teams of the previous Nationals, the host team and the President s XI to make up the final 16 teams . . . slugging it out for the ultimate glory !
Aurangabad, Mumbai and Nagpur cities are slugging it out to win the bid to host this electric showdown meet ! lets watch who wins this Prize- night fight ! ! !
. . . . . with energetic MBA's innovative handling of things, it is sure to bolster the sport in India !
Hanoi, Vietnam on the opening day ....more
Six women boxers (Marykom -46 kgs, Chhoto Laura 51 kgs, L Sarita Devi 54 kgs, N Usha 57 kgs & Kavita Goyat 64 kgs ) will be representing India at the 3rd Asian Indoor Games at Hanoi, Vietnam from 31 October to 04 November 2009. These boxers were selected at Selection Trials held at Bhopal on 12 August 2009 as the last date for submission of entries to the Organising Committee was 25 August 2009. Mr Anoop Kumar and Mr BC Bhatt are the Coaches to accompany the Indian Team while Mrs Gauri Vaidya from Maharashtra who is an International Referee & Judge has been nominated as a Neutral Referee & Judge (R&J) by the Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC). ASBC has also selected Dr Sanjogita Soodan of Jammu & Kashmir as the International Technical Official (Doctor) while Col PK Muralidharan Raja who is the Chairman of ASBC R&J Commission has been nominated as a Jury Member. The expenses of the Neutral R&J, ITO (Doctor) and the Jury Member will be borne by the Organising Committee of the Asian Indoor Games.
Hanoi, Vietnam on the opening day
a of 5 boxers only while the hosts Vietnam is
permitted to participate in all categories. India is being represented
by Mary Kom (46 kgs), Chhoto Loura (51 kgs), L Sarita Devi (54 kgs), N
Usha (57 kgs) and Kavita Goyat (64 kgs).
Boxing event had a separate Opening Ceremony of its own at 3.30 pm on
30 October at Bac Ninh Indoor Stadium which is 30 kms away from Hanoi,
wherein a colourful marchpast by all participating teams was followed
by a few cultural programmes by the hosts Vietnam. Mary Kom has the special
distinction of carrying the Indian Flag in the Ceremony at Bac Ninh at
3.30 pm and also in the main Opening Ceremony at Hanoi at 8.00 pm as the
Flag Bearer of the complete Indian Contingent. A photograph of the Indian
Boxing Team just after the march past at Bac Ninh is attached.
The Medical, weigh in and draw of bouts took place in the morning of 30
October at Bac Ninh. Mary Kom has been drawn to meet Ting Lo Yueh of Chinese
Taipei in the quarter finals of 46 kgs on 01 November. In the 51 kgs,
Chhoto Loura meets NilminiKumari of Sri Lanka in the quarter finals on
01 November. In 54 kgs Laishram Sarita is scheduled to fight against Ayako
Minowa of Japan in the quarter finals on 31 October. In the 57 kgs, N
Usha is pitted against Koroleva Oxana of Kazakhstan in the quarter finals
on 31 October 2009. And in the 64 kgs Kavita Goyat meets Huong Nguyen
Jhi Jhu of Vietnam in the semi finals on 01 November 2009.
The countries that are participating in Women s Boxing of 3rd Asian Indoor Games are Afghanistan, China, Chinese Taipei, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Macau, Nepal, Phillipines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Incidentally this is the first time that Afghanistan has sent Women Boxers to participate in an International Boxing Tournament abroad.
In the seventh bout of the day, Chhoto Loura in the 51 kgs defeated her opponent from Sri Lanka, Kumari Nilmini by a score of 10:2 pts. Chhoto was comfortably in the lead right from the start of Round 1 which she maintained and ended Round 1 at 2:0 pts. After Round 2 the score was 5:2 pts which became 6:2 after Round 3 and finally 10:2 after Round 4.
In the ninth bout of the day in the 64 kgs wt cat wherein the bouts were semi finals, Kavita Goyat had a harrowing experience of staring at defeat till the fourth and final Round when she was trailing 1:2 pts against Huong Nguyen Thi Thiu of Vietnam. A Warning to the Vietnamese boxer by the Referee from Uzbekistan for holding turned the tables and gave Kavita the lead with a score of 3:2 pts. The Vietnamese boxer went all out subsequently but was denied any scoring opportunity by Kavita and the Indian was lucky that she did not get penalised with a Warning for not boxing but trying to hold onto her lead. Kavita has thus moved into the finals of the 64 kgs where she meets Khassenova Saida of Kazakhstan who defeated Shahla Sekandari of Afghanistan in the other semi finals today.
The semi final bouts of the other four Indian
Boxers ie. Mary Kom, Chhoto Loura,
L Sarita Devi and N Usha will be held on 02 November 2009.
Group Photograph (from Left to Right):Anoop Kumar (National Women s Coach), Kavita Goyat (64 kgs), N Usha (57 kgs), Vietnamese Volunteer, Mary Kom (46 kgs), Vietnamese Voulnteer, L Sarita Devi (54 kgs), Jaslal Pradhan (Manager), Bhaskar C Bhatt (Team Coach), Gauri Vaidya (Referee & Judge), Dr Sanjogita Soodan (Doctor), Chhoto Loura (51 kgs).
The SAHARA 56th Senior National Mens Boxing Championships will be held at Saroornagar Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad from 26 October 01 November 2009. The Opening Ceremony of the National Championships will be held at 4.30 pm on 26 October (Monday) wherein Honble Shri D Nagender, Health Minister, Govt of Andhra Pradesh will be the Chief Guest. The Opening Ceremony will have a March Past followed by Oath Taking by Athletes. The Bouts will commence at 5.30 pm on 26 October 2009.
A total of 321 boxers representing 37 States / Boards are participating for this week long National Championships. The Opening Day will have some spectacular bouts from reputed Internationals. The second bout of the day in 48 kgs will see Nanao Singh of SSCB who is the first Indian Boxer to be a World Champion in Youth Mens Category (at Mexico) as well as Silver Medalist at Asian Championships 2009 at Zhuhai, China in action against Aditya Singh of West Bengal. Also in 48 kgs, Devendro Singh of Manipur who is the World Cadet Champion takes on Biswajit of Assam Rifles. Fireworks are expected in the 51 kgs category when Asian Championship Gold Medalist Suranjoy Singh of SSCB meets Sanjay Singh of RSPB. Other reputed Boxers who are fighting today are Amandeep Singh of RSPB in the 48 kgs who is pitted against Sudhir Kumar of BSF. Amandeep was a Bronze Medalist at the 2nd Olympic Qualifying Tournament held at Bangkok in 2008 wherein he had defeated the boxer from Mongolia in the quarter finals who later on qualified for Olympics at Kazakhstan in the 3rd Qualifier and went on to win the Silver Medal at Beijing Olympics. In the 51 kgs cat World Cadet Champion Vipin Kumar of Uttaranchal will take on Suraj Singh of Meghalaya.
A funny coincidence took place during the Draw of Bouts at 1.00 am on 26th October (today). Former Asian Games Gold Medalist Dingko Singh who is now the Coach of SSCB Team was called to draw the lots for 51 kgs. While he was standing before the draw, he remarked to the audience that he will pick up the bout as SSCB (Services) versus RSPB (Railways). As luck would have it that was exactly what happened. Then in the next weight category the Manager of RSPB was called to make the draw. He jokingly said that he will also draw the bout as RSPB versus SSCB and that was what actually happened. So all the managers and Coaches present had a hearty laugh and also remarked that probably the Finals of thes two weight categories are being fought in the very first round. Indian Boxing Federation thanks Andhra Pradesh Boxing Association under their Organising Secretary Shri BD Manmohan and his team for the excellent arrangements that they have done for this National Championships. A Special mention needs to be made of Shri Sannidhi Raghu Prasad, Managing Director of Sannidhi Digital Images Pvt Ltd for being the main sponsor for this National Championship in Memory of his Father Late Shri Sannidhi Simhachalam. He has rendered moral and financial support to the Organisers for making arrangements for this National Championships. It is probably the first time ever that all participating boxers, coaches, Managers and Referees & Judges are accomodated in one single Hotel. The arrangements provided this time thanks to sponsorship of Shri Sannidhi Raghu Prasad is a benchmark for others to follow at the next National Championships.
Another first at this National Championships is the Special Incentive Awards being introduced for the Winners of every bout starting from Day One till the Finals, thanks to the sponsorship by SAHARA Parivar who are the Title Sponsors for this National Championships. Each boxer who wins a bout in the preliminary rounds will get Rs 500/. The winners at pre quarterfinals will get Rs 1000/ , quarterfinals Rs 2000/ ,Semifinals Rs 3000/ and the winners of Finals will get Rs 5000/ each in cash for their supplements. This support given magnanimously by SAHARA SHRI Subrata Roy heralds a new beginning for Boxing in India. The boxers and coaches are thrilled and extremely elated as they now feel that they are being honoured and recognised for their performances which is indeed wonderful for the promotion of the sport.
The Annual General Body Meeting and Executive Committee Meeting of Indian Boxing Federation (IABF) will be held at 10.30 AM on 27 October 2009 at the Conference Hall of Hotel Peppermint, Lakdi ka Pul, Hyderabad. Prior to the AGM there will be a few Presentations by Agencies who are keen to be associated as Marketing Agencies with the Federation as well as are keen to sponsor the promotion of Boxing Events in India
Indian Boxing Federation requests the Print & Electronic Media and TV Channels to kindly support the promotion of Boxing in the Country by sending their representatives from today ie 26 October onwards till 01 November 2009 to witness the National Boxing Championships at Saroornagar Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad, and give due coverage in your respective media and thus encourage the boxers to perform better at National and International Championships. The sudden vertical take off by Boxing over the past two years has to a large extent been due to total media support that we have received and we sincerely hope that you will continue to do so in future too.
Indian Boxing Federation (IABF) is glad to inform that after continuous discussions for the past six months, IABF has been able to make a historic tie-up with SAHARA INDIA in that they will promote and support a few of our selected Boxers. At present they will be signing up with our 5 Olympians plus 8 more talented Boxers whom they have identified. The official Press Conference between SAHARA and IABF will be held at 3.00 pm on 23 February 2009 ie today at Hotel InterContinental, New Delhi where, in addition to Shri Abhay Singh Chautala, President IABF and the 13 boxers (Akhil & Jitender are now in South Africa), their would be Mr Subrata Roy , Chairman of SAHARA INDIA and his Team of Officials. IABF sincerely hopes that there would be more sponsors coming forward to support Boxing, Boxers as well as the activities of the Federation also in the future.
In a major upset, Olympian Jitender Kumar on Thursday crashed out of the 16th AK Mishra Boxing Championship after losing 9-11 to Meghalaya's Torak Kharpran in a thrilling bout. Jitender was leading 7-5 at the end of second round but found the going tough as Torak cut loose in the last round and within seconds turned the tables on the Olympic quarter-finalist.It is for the first time that Jitender was competing in any tournament after shifting from flyweight to bantamweight category. The Meghalayan boxer, who is also reigning national champion in the bantamweight category, wrenched a two-point lead (11-9) in the middle of the third round.
Olympic medallist Vijender Kumar has assured India of its first men's world championship boxing medal.
The middleweight beat Sergiy Derevyanchenko of Ukraine 12:4 on points in Milan in the 75-kg category quarter-finals on Wednesday to guarantee at least a bronze. "It is indeed exhilarating to have had the honour of breaking two barriers consecutively for India in boxing," Vijender said in a statement issued on Thursday. The 23-year-old Vijender won India their first Olympic boxing medal in Beijing last year with a bronze performance and was awarded his country's highest sporting prize for that achievement. The top seed will next meet Uzbek Abbos Atoev in the semi-finals on Friday.
In addition to the above, the Executive Committee Meeting & Annual General Body Meeting of IABF will be held at Raffles Residency, Hyderabad at 10.30 am on 27 October 2009. Over and above the general points that are always discussed at such Meetings, this years AGM will have a special Presentation by those Organisations who have shown keenness to be Exclusive Marketing Agencies of IABF. The proposal to introduce Indian Series Boxing (ISB) on the lines of WSB which will be akin to Professional Boxing wherein there will be Franchisee Indian Cities vying with each other like the IPL will be discussed. It is indeed heartening to note that we already have interest being shown by a few Corporates / Business houses who are keen to own such Franchisees.
It is being assumed by IABF family and all Boxing lovers of India that this is the last year in which National Championships will be held without any major sponsorships. The kind of interest which Boxing has generated will certainly be converted into viable financial deals by IABF with the help of experienced Marketing Agencies who have thrown their hats into the Ring. Although a large number of proposals have also been received for approval for Reality Shows of different kinds involving Amateur Boxers Registered with IABF, it is proposed to tread with caution on such issues.
All in all the SAHARA 56th Senior National Mens Boxing Championships promises to provide action packed fun and entertainment at Saroornagar Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad from 26th October till the finals on 01 November 2009.
1. Notice of Executive Committee Meeting at Hyderabad on October 27, 2009
2. Notice of Annual General Meeting at Hyderabad on October 27, 2009
3. Annual Report for the year 2008-2009
Questioned about India's medal prospects, particularly in the case of Mary Kom, four time world women's boxing champion and recent recipient of the country's highest sporting honour - the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award - Raja struck a note of caution. "Mary Kom will have to compete above her 46 kg weight level category but she is up to the challenge. A lot about boxing is in the mind and Mary has it in her overcome the weight hurdle," Raja said, while noting also that India had a good pool of talent with medal winning prospects among women.
At the London Games, women will compete in three weight categories — flyweight (48-51kg), lightweight (56-60kg) and middleweight (69-75kg) — with 12 boxers taking part in each weight.
Considering that the level of Competition will be extremely high at the World Championships with more than 700 entries from 100 plus countries having confirmed their participation, the Selection Committee of IABF has recommended that only boxers in nine weight categories be selected. Therefore the Selection Committee did not recommend participation in 69 kgs and + 91 kgs as they were of the unanimous opinion that the competition in these two cats will be extremely tough for our available boxers.
The selected Team is:
1. 48 kgs - NANAO SINGH (SSCB)
2. 51 kgs - SURANJOY SINGH (SSCB)
3. 54 kgs - JITENDER KUMAR (AIP)
4. 57 kgs - AKHIL KUMAR (AIP)
5. 60 kgs - JAI BHAGWAN (AIP)
6. 64 kgs - MANOJ KUMAR (RSPB)
7. 75 kgs - VIJENDER SINGH (AIP)
8. 81 kgs - DINESH KUMAR (AIP)
9. 91 kgs - MANPREET SINGH (SSCB)
In the 48 kgs category, Thokchom Nanao Singh has been ranked Fifth with a tally of 1400 pts while Olympic Champion Zou Shiming of China is ranked First with 2500 pts. In the 51 kgs Suranjoy Singh has been ranked Fourteenth with a total of 800 pts, while Jitender Kumar has been ranked Thirteenth with a total 837.5 pts. In the 57 kgs Akhil Kumar has been ranked Ninth with a total of 1050 pts, while his compatriot Jai Bhagwan is ranked Twenty fifth with 700 pts. In the 64 kgs Manoj Kumar is ranked Fifty Second with 400 pts while in the same weight category Balwinder Beniwal is ranked Fifty Seventh with 362.5 pts. In the 69 kgs category Dilbag Singh is ranked Twenty Eighth with 550 pts while in the 81 kgs, Dinesh Kumar is ranked Joint Sixth with 1050 pts. In the 91 kgs Manpreet Singh is Thirty Fifth with 450 pts while in the + 91 kgs Parveen Kumar and Paramjit Samota are Thirty Seventh and Fortieth respectively.
The rankings have been developed from the boxers performances in various competitions as below:
" 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships
" 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournaments
" 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
" 2008 AIBA Youth World Championships
" 2008 Pan American Championships - Ecuador
" 2008 European Elite Championships - Liverpool
" 2009 Asian Elite Championships - Zhuhai
" 2009 African Elite Championships – Mauritius
semifinals. Vijender settled for the bronze, India's maiden World Championship medal.
During Friday's bout, Vijender was completely off colour right from the start and looked lethargic. Vijender lead 1-0 at the end of the first round but Abos came back strongly and started dictating terms to open up a 5-1 lead by the end of the round.
Vijender did throw in a couple of punches but lacked the power. In the third round, Vijender started attacking and gained two points but the experienced Abos maintaned his calm to win 7-3.
Akhil and Jitender were keenly following the days proceedings and taking notes. It was indeed a pleasant surprise to see that Jitender was attending every session and trying to assimilate the strengths and techniques being adopted by different boxers.
In tomorrow s preliminary rounds, Thokchom Nanao Singh faces Pongprayoon Kaeo of Thailand in the 48 kgs category while in the 75 kgs Vijender Singh meets Belgibayev Azamat of Kazakhstan in the preliminaries. Both had got a bye into the second round.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) is confident of roping in Indian corporates to buy a city-based franchise in its ambitious World Series Boxing (WSB) inspired by the Indian Premier League (IPL).AIBA dream project will attract both the professional and those amateurs who have turned professional after the Beijing Olympics, said WSB chief-operating officer Ivan Khodabaksh here Thursday while presenting the blueprint of the series.
Nanao next has a tough bout against Pongprayoon Kaeo of Thailand who defeated Kapezov Adlet of Kazakhstan in a ridiculously one sided bout. Incidentally Nanao lost a close bout to the Thai boxer at the finals of the Asian Boxing Championships at Zhuhai recently where Nanao got the Silver Medal and the Thai got the Gold. The morning session sadly saw the exit of Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist and Beijing Olympics Quarter finalist Akhil Kumar from this World Championship 57 kgs category in a very subdued manner. The fire that Akhil had depicted at Beijing Olympics and the Moscow World Cup in December 2008 was sadly missing. Moreover, the Referees & Judges for this Championships were instructed that swings are not to be entertained but points be given only for correct punches with the knuckle portion of the gloves landing on the target with sufficient force. This was communicated to the full team by the undersigned who is a Jury Member, well before the World Championships started. Unfortunately both Akhil and Jitender who have a similar style of dropping their guards and landing punches with swings from the sides or below had to suffer. Both will now have to change their style of play if they are to have any realistic chances in International Tournaments of this stature in future. But the good news is that both have the ability and will power to change their style to suit the present day requirement of Boxing Scoring System. Round 1 ended with Akhil down at the receiving end with a score of 1:4 pts. Round 2 ended with the score at 2:10 in favour of Navarro Roberto Gonzalez of Dominican Republic. When the 3rd Round ended, Akhil had lost the bout by a score of 2:16 pts.
In the second Round of bouts, on 04 September 2009, in the 60 kgs category Jai Bhagawan will take on Eric Donovan of Ireland while in the 81 kgs, Dinesh Kumar takes on Reznicek Vladimir of Czech Republic.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) is confident of roping in Indian corporates to buy a city-based franchise in its ambitious World Series Boxing (WSB) inspired by the Indian Premier League (IPL).AIBA dream project will attract both the professional and those amateurs who have turned professional after the Beijing Olympics, said WSB chief-operating officer Ivan Khodabaksh here Thursday while presenting the blueprint of the series.
Vijender, on the
other hand, honed his skills at the Germany event and returned with a
gold after beating Russian, Artem Chebotarev 24-13. Australia, Italy,
Germany and Mangolia were some of the other participating nations.
According to national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu, the event was a perfect
build up for the Beijing Games as the youngsters rubbed shoulders with
Beijing-bound boxers of other nations.
The team: Jitender Kumar (51kg), Akhil Kumar
(54 kg), A.L. Lakra (57 kg), Vijender (75 kg), Dinesh Kumar (81 kg).
An Inspector with the Manipur Police, Ms Sarita Devi defeated Web Hayley of Canada in the finals to win the Gold Medal in the below 57 Kgs Weight Category. There were four weight categories for Women in the World Police Games this year ie. 57 kgs & under, 63.5 kgs & under, 71 kgs & under and 75 kgs & under. The Indian Contingent had however fielded only one entry in Women s Boxing and none in Men s event.
Nanao Singh also from the Services Sports Control Board and hailing from Manipur nearly won the Gold Medal but lost in a nail biting finish by a score of 8:9 pts to Pongprayoon Keaw of Thailand in the 48 kgs category. Somehow, Nanao was not in his usual ebullient form and seemed a bit slow in comparison to his earlier performances. Nanao was leading by a score of 3:2 pts at the end of Round 1 and was tied at 6:6 pts at the end of Round 2. Even in Round 3, Nanao was leading by a score of 8:7 pts with less than ninety seconds from the finish. However a final surge by the Thai boxer saw him take the lead and hold on to it and finish with a score of 9 : 8 Pts. Thus Nano Singh got the Silver Medal. In the 60 kgs Jai Bhagwan from Railways Sports Promotion Board and belonging to Haryana was pitted against Hudayberdiev Serdar of Turkmenistan. Jai Bhagwan was leading by 1:0 pts at the end of Round 1 but started trailing and ended Round 2 at a score of 1:2 pts. In Round 3 the Turkmenistan who had an excellent footwork continuously avoided Jai Bhagwan s punches and in return landed counter blows to finish with the Gold Medal at a score of 8:3 pts. Jai Bhagwan got the Siver Medal. India thus ended their campaign with a total of 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 4 Bronze Medals at the Asian Boxing Championships 2009. In the Overall Team Championship Standings as per points, China stood first, followed by Uzbekistan and India came a close third. In the medals tally, China got 3 Gold, while Uzbeksitan, Thailand and Kazakhstan got 2 Gold each. India and Turkmenistan got one Gold each.
"In order to clarify the procedure for selection of franchise cities, a team comprising Ivan Khodabaksh, Chief Operating Officer, WSB and Mr Julian Brand, Vice President, IMG (AIBA's business partner) will be giving a presentation to the potential franchises to introduce them to the opportunities available in World Series Boxing (WSB) April 23," the Indian Boxing Federation said in a statement.
Khodabakhsh has stated that credible investors, good training facilities and spectator interest will be some of the criteria for selection of franchisees. India is competing with, among other, China and Kazakhstan to become a franchisee in the high profile event. The WSB is set for September 2010 start with 12 franchise cities -- four each from Asia, Europe and Americas.
The WSB borrows heavily from professional boxing where boxers will fight it out without headguards and vests in five rounds. Three judges sitting around the ring will give scores manually with a referee controlling the bout inside the ring. The franchisees will select their team of boxers during the World Championships in Milan from September 1 to 12.
Suranjoy, who won India's first Asian Gold medal in 15 years in the 51 kg category, lost his first round bout against Myambayar Tugstsogt of Mongolia. The bout ended with the score tied 10-10 but the Indian boxer lost on a countback by a point. Another Indian boxer Manoj Kumar was beaten by Brazil's Carvaho Myke of Brazil in the 64 kg. The bout between Kumar and Myke was also close with the Brazilian winning by a margin of just one point 5-4. Beijing Olympic quarter-finalist Jitender Kumar will be in action on Wednesday in the 54kg weight category.
Jai Bhagawan dominated the proceedings right from the moment the bout started. Rodriguez Angel was slightly shorter and hence Jai Bhagawan intelligently made use of his superior hieght advantage. Jai Bhagawan kept attacking the Venezualan with straight right punches combined with left hooks in between to chalk up a lead of 3:1 points at the end of Round 1. By the end of Round 2 Jai Bhagawan was leading by a score of 7:1 points. In Round 3, Rodriguez Angel returned strongly by attacking Jai Bhagawan relentlessly and at one point of time the scoreline read 7:4 pts. With the Venezualan supporters rooting for their boxer, the atmosphere was tense, but Jai Bhagawan kept his cool and pulled ahead with three quick staright punches to take the bout beyond the Venezualan s reach.
Jai Bhagawan now meets Eric Donovan of Ireland in the next Round on 04 September. Earlier the two had met in an International Tournament at the Czech Republic, where Jai Bhagawan had lost to the Irish in a very close encounter by a solitary point. So this is a golden opportunity for Jai Bhagawan to avenge his earlier defeat.
In the 64 kgs, Manoj Kumar was trailing by 0:2 pts at the end of Round 1 against Carvaho Myke of Brazil who had the advantage of hieght. Moreover, Manoj was a bit defensive in his approach and that let him down. Round 2 ended with the scoreline reading 5:1 in the Brazilians favour. However, with the vociferous cheering from his colleagues and advice for change of tactics by his Coach Mr GS Sandhu, Manoj went into the offensive in Round 3 and chalked up 3 quick pts within two minutes. With the score at 5:4 in favour of the Brazilian, the last one minute was a scrappy affair with neither boxer able to keep their cool or land clean punches and the bout ended in favour of the Brazilian with the score 5:4 pts.
Laishram Sarita Devi, a seven times gold medallist in various international women s boxing tourneys has been bestowed with the Arjuna Award, India s prime honour for sportspersons. Sarita Devi (24) hails from Thoubal in Manipur.
MAGOMED – SALAM UMAKHANOV MEMORIAL BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP being held in the City of MAKHACHKALA, RUSSIA.
In the 48 kgs, Amandeep Singh defeated Ginnachmaev V of Russia on points 11:2 in the quarter finals and entered the semifinals.
In the 69 kgs, Jai Singh Patil lost to Ambartzumyn Edurd of Armenia (Beijing Olympian) on points 2:8.
In the 75 kgs, Kuldeep Singh lost a close and hard fought bout to Yron Nikolia of Russia on points 9:12.
In the 81 kgs, Jasveer Singh defeated Iskanderov Khatiz of Azerbaijan on points 8:2.
In the 91 kgs, Manpreet Singh Knocked Out Abdullaev Rustam of Russia in the 1st Round and entered Semifinals.
Vijender, on the other hand, honed his skills at the Germany event and
returned with a gold after beating Russian, Artem Chebotarev 24-13. Australia,
Italy, Germany and Mangolia were some of the other participating nations.
According to national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu, the event was a perfect
build up for the Beijing Games as the youngsters rubbed shoulders with
Beijing-bound boxers of other nations.
The team: Jitender Kumar (51kg), Akhil Kumar (54 kg), A.L. Lakra (57 kg),
Vijender (75 kg), Dinesh Kumar (81 kg).
The 1st AIBA President's Cup opened on Sunday in the Hsinchuang Stadium Taipei County in Sinjhuang City, Taipei. Only those who have qualified for the Beijing Olympics are eligible to participate. Many of the world's top boxers are participating in the event, which finishes on May 31, some using the tournament as a final hit-out prior to the Olympic Games in Beijing, China. A total of 126 boxers from 26 countries are competing across the 11 weight categories with the semifinals and finals to be held after Thursday's rest day on Friday and Saturday respectively.The Indian Contingent of 4 Olympic Qualified boxers had mixed fortunes at this prestigious run up to the Olympics. On the opening day ANTHRESH LALIT LAKRA lost to DMYTRO BULENKOV of Ukraine in the 57 kg category. Yesterday Jitender lost to Yunusov Anvar of Tajkistan on points 5:9 in a hard hitting exciting encounter. Dinesh Kumar is slated to meet ABBOS ATOEVE of Uzbekistan today, who is the current World Champion in 81 kgs category.Vijender s victory against the Olympic Gold Medalist is all the more sweet revenge as he had lost a very close bout against Olympic Champion Bakhtiyar Artayev at the Doha Asian Games in December 2006 in the semi finals. Vijender was leading throughout the four rounds and Coach GS Sandhu was exuberant while describing Vijender s victory. He stated that Vijender was as cool as a cucumber and flustered his famed opponent with deft movements and lightning fast straight punches and jabs to the front of the face and side of the body. The Kazakh could not read Vijender s style and despite a last minute flurry and hectic trade of punches could not match Vijender in the Ring on 27 May 2008. Vijender now meets ANGKHAN CHOMPHUPHUANG of Thailand in the Semifinals on Friday.
The 26-year-old Mary Kom had applied twice for the award earlier, but it remained elusive. The third time, however, has proved proverbially lucky for her. The delighted four-time world pin weight champion said last evening she had earlier applied for the award twice but was not lucky enough to beat the cricketers. Mary said she had thought of giving up applying for the award but had changed her mind at the last moment. She had even decided to quit the sport if her case was not considered this time.
The elated boxer added that she was feeling very proud, not only for herself, but also for the state because of the recognition. She also expressed her gratitude to the ministry of sports, particularly its minister M.S. Gill, for his encouragement. The champion boxer and a mother of two said it was very difficult to pursue the sport with dedication after having children. The driving force that keeps her on track, she said, was the understanding and support provided by her husband Onlar Kom. She said she also owed this glory to her coaches, who moulded and shaped her into what she is today and above all, her belief in God, which has made all this possible.
At the national level, Mary Kom has so far grabbed 10 gold medals since 2000, and in the international arena, she had collected 14 gold and two silver medals. Apart from this, she had been bestowed with seven titles including the Arjuna Award, Padmashree and Indian Real Heroes Award.
Apart from Mary Kom, another policewoman boxer L. Sarita Devi has also been selected for the Arjuna Award.
"The committee has unanimously voted for Mary Kom and the recommendation has been sent to the Sports Ministry which will ratify it soon," a top official told PTI on condition of anonymity. The official said the name of Beijing Olympics bronze medallist Vijender Singh was also discussed but the committee ultimately decided on Mary Kom.
"Vijender and wrestling's Olympic
bronze medallist Sushil Kumar did come up for discussion but Mary Kom
got the vote ultimately," the official revealed.
"If we did not have the facilities how could we have done so well and won a medal," said the bronze medal winner at a felicitation function raised by the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) president Abhay Chautala for the Olympic boxing team here. Even as he praised the role of the media in promoting boxing, Vijender wondered where from the stories of boxers being on their own emanated as neither he nor his teammates had ever complained about the lack of help or facilities. If the sport continued to get the kind of exposure in the media, the boxers will come up with more medals from the 2012 London Olympics. Chief coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu chipped in to say that SAI in Patiala as well as in Delhi gave the boxers immense support and they had no cause for any complaint. On a personal note, Chautala said if there were any shortcoming on the part of the IABF it would try to address them. Chautala also lauded Sandhu's commitment to Indian boxing, saying he had come out of retirement to take care of the Olympics team.
Chautala, however, refused to spell out the federation's plans to promote the sport, saying that he would do so during the national championships at Bhatinda, starting September 5, and quipped: "First let me get elected as president again." Praising Vijender for winning the bronze, Chautala said Akhil and Jitender, too, would have won a medal each if only they had been fully fit.
"Akhil was down with a virus and had to be put on antibiotics to be fit for the quarter-final bout, while Jitender had ten stitches on his forehead before his bout. When he could beat World No. 3 and world champion in the previous two rounds, Akhil could have won against a lesser ranked boxer in the quarters," said the IABF chief. Chautala said it was creditable that three of the Indian boxers finished among the top eight boxers in the world at the Olympics and if their performance chart continued to go up, India would win a medal in every weight category at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Both Vijender and Akhil also praised the contribution of chief coaches Sandhu and Cuban B.I. Fernandez as well assistant coaches Jaidev Bisht and Raman. "Our caoches and sparring partners egged us on to do well in Beijing and they all deserve a big thanks from us."
The 1st AIBA President's Cup opened on Sunday in the Hsinchuang Stadium Taipei County in Sinjhuang City, Taipei. Only those who have qualified for the Beijing Olympics are eligible to participate. Many of the world's top boxers are participating in the event, which finishes on May 31, some using the tournament as a final hit-out prior to the Olympic Games in Beijing, China. A total of 126 boxers from 26 countries are competing across the 11 weight categories with the semifinals and finals to be held after Thursday's rest day on Friday and Saturday respectively.The Indian Contingent of 4 Olympic Qualified boxers had mixed fortunes at this prestigious run up to the Olympics. On the opening day ANTHRESH LALIT LAKRA lost to DMYTRO BULENKOV of Ukraine in the 57 kg category. Yesterday Jitender lost to Yunusov Anvar of Tajkistan on points 5:9 in a hard hitting exciting encounter. Dinesh Kumar is slated to meet ABBOS ATOEVE of Uzbekistan today, who is the current World Champion in 81 kgs category.Vijender s victory against the Olympic Gold Medalist is all the more sweet revenge as he had lost a very close bout against Olympic Champion Bakhtiyar Artayev at the Doha Asian Games in December 2006 in the semi finals. Vijender was leading throughout the four rounds and Coach GS Sandhu was exuberant while describing Vijender s victory. He stated that Vijender was as cool as a cucumber and flustered his famed opponent with deft movements and lightning fast straight punches and jabs to the front of the face and side of the body. The Kazakh could not read Vijender s style and despite a last minute flurry and hectic trade of punches could not match Vijender in the Ring on 27 May 2008. Vijender now meets ANGKHAN CHOMPHUPHUANG of Thailand in the Semifinals on Friday.
For the first time, the Khel Ratna Award will be presented to two boxers, including a woman, and a wrestler. When their names were sent to the sports ministry, speculations were there that anyone of them would get the Khel Ratna award. But in an unprecedented move and giving due respect to the achievements by Marycom, Vijender and Sushil Kumar, the sports ministry decided to confer the Khel Ratna on the trio.
Marycom deserved the award as she made India proud by wining four gold medals in the world boxing, while Vijender and Sushil' s achievement in Beijing were also outstanding. Vijender won the bronze in boxing and Sushil brought bronze in wrestling at the Beijing Olympics. President will also present Dronacharya award to Pulela Gopichand and Arjun Award to Saina Nehw
Amandeep Singh lost in the 48 kgs finals to Olympian Danielyn Oganes of Armenia by a very narrow margin of 3:5 points and got the Silver Medal.
In the 57 kgs finals Akshay Kumar lost to Polynsky Dmitry of Russia on points 1:4 and won the Silver Medal.
In the 91 kgs, Manpreet Singh was medically unfit due to a cut on the Nose that he sustained during his hard fought semifinal bout against Khomaster Artur of Germany and hence Manpreet got the Silver Medal.
In the 48 kgs, Kalpana Choudhary lost to V Makresova of Ukraine on points 3:7 in the Preliminary Round.
In the 51 kgs Chhoto Loura lost to Kob Tatyana of Kazakhstan on points 8:9 in the Preliminary Round.
In the 54 kgs Sushma Kumari defeated Usachenko Victoriya of Russia in the Preliminary Round by RSC Injury. However in the quarterfinals she lost to Zhang Qin of China on points 3:10.
In the 75 kgs Laxmi Padhya lost to Sagaydakovskaya I of Russia on points 0:6 in the Preliminary Round.
In the 81 kgs, Sangita Devi lost to Yavorskaya M of Russia on points in the semifinals and hence she has been awarded a Bronze Medal.
"Yes, India is one of the eight franchisees that have been selected by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) so far," PTI quotes WSB chief operating officer Ivan Khodabakhsh as saying from AIBA headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The focus is on Vijender (75kg) and Akhil Kumar (54kg) they are both taking part in their second Olympics and India have high hopes of a medal from them because of their recent excellent record in international competitions. For Akhil Kumar, the training in Germany was a good one as he was coming back from a wrist injury. However he did not participate in the recent Chemistry Cup, to avoid getting injured before the Beijing Games.
Vijender, on the other hand, honed his skills at the Germany event and returned with a gold after beating Russian, Artem Chebotarev 24-13. Australia, Italy, Germany and Mangolia were some of the other participating nations. According to national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu, the event was a perfect build up for the Beijing Games as the youngsters rubbed shoulders with Beijing-bound boxers of other nations.
The team: Jitender Kumar (51kg), Akhil Kumar (54 kg), A.L. Lakra (57 kg), Vijender (75 kg), Dinesh Kumar (81 kg).
Boxing official Jay Kowli on Saturday sounded optimistic about a medal in Beijing Olympics and singled out Vijender and Akhil Kumar as the best bets for India at the quadrennial extravaganza, while athlete Ashwini Nachappa ruled out any medal hopes from the track.
"Vijender (75kg) and Akhil Kumar (54kg) are taking part in their second Olympics and I have high hopes of a medal from them because of their recent excellent record in international competitions," the Joint Secretary of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation said at a symposium organised by the Sports Journalists Federation of India here. Kowli, also Secretary of the Maharashtra boxing body, said while India would be represented by five pugilists in the August 8-24 Games, medal hopes were pinned more on this duo."Akhil Kumar has been a very consistent performer after his gold medal win in the Glasgow Commonwealth Championship in 2005 and the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne though CWG is only 30 per cent of Olympics (competition-wise). He was also declared the best boxer in the Asian qualifiers at Bangkok. I am sure he will bring good news," he said."Vijender is neat and clean in his technique and has beaten Athens Games medalist and Doha Asian Games winner Bakhtiyar Artayev of Uzbekistan on points in Taipei which is some achievement. I expect a lot from him too," Kowli said.
The other Indian boxers who would be seen at Beijing are Akhilesh Kumar Lakra (57kg), Jitender Kumar (51kg) and Dinesh Kumar (81kg).While the boxing official was upbeat, former sprint queen Nachappa held out little hopes of a medal in athletics unless ace long jumper Anju George betters her personal best of 6.85m."I wish I could say better things, but from previous experiences I don't hold any hopes of a medal in athletics unless Anju Bobby George betters her Athens best of 6.85m. It's sad (state of affairs) but true," Ashwini, the one-time national 100m women's champion, said.Ashwini recalled her bitter Olympic Games experience of 1988 when other teams were striving to win a medal the Indian contingent was trying to figure out their women's relay teams through repeated trials."I hope things turn out better now than in 1988 when repeated trials were conducted to suit one particular athlete," she said, without mentioning India's best-known female athlete P T Usha, carrying an injury then, by name."Though I don't expect any medals, it will be great if the athletes can try and better their personal bests."Apart from Anju, a few others like triple jumper Renjith Maheswari have qualified for the Games and Ashwini had another dig at the Athletics Federation of India's perceived favouritism towards women relay athletes by saying, "I would be surprised if the 4x400 m relay team does not go".Ace cueist Geet Sethi, who has formed the "Quest for Olympic Gold," venture with badminton great Prakash Padukone slammed the officials of the various Indian sports federations for treating sports persons like dirt.
"I had gone to watch the 2000 Sydney Games when I had floated a sports website and found the behaviour of the officials pompous at a show-boat party whereas the athletes wore a dejected and depressed look. This has to change," he emphasised."I saw the federations' officials strutting around with flamboyance and arrogance while the athletes were cowering before them. This, I recall, was after (Karnam) Malleswari had won her bronze (in weightlifting)", the former world professional billiards champion said.
"We need to throw out this defeatist attitude of the athletes. Those who have qualified for the Games need our full support now."Everyone I have met in India, from businessmen to doctors and other professionals want our athletes to win medals at the Olympics. They are willing to commit themselves financially. It needs only one gold medal to open up the floodgates (of gold medals)," he said optimistically.Shuttler Uday Pawar was not too happy with the way the Badminton Association of India has disallowed top shuttlers from going overseas to train and play matches."We can't replicate the Chinese model and flog the players to exhaustion by asking them to train endlessly. We have a limited pool and if we continue doing this most of them would be finished", the former international and doubles expert said."We should see the examples of (tennis players) Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza and (chess wizard) Viswanathan Anand who all train and play abroad," he said while hoping that India's two Olympic hopes in badminton, Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal, would do their best. Seasoned boxing official Kishen Narsi said the world boxing body is keen that the organising and judging is fair and free of controversies and has put in measures to ensure these like computerised draws.
In the latest development in AIBA s endeavour to include women s boxing as a medal sport at the London Olympics, they have come up with a new proposal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which includes the introduction of 40 female boxers across five weight categories - 47kg, 53kg, 60kg, 69kg and 75kg.
Boxing official Jay Kowli on Saturday sounded optimistic about a medal in Beijing Olympics and singled out Vijender and Akhil Kumar as the best bets for India at the quadrennial extravaganza, while athlete Ashwini Nachappa ruled out any medal hopes from the track.
"Vijender (75kg) and Akhil Kumar (54kg) are taking part in their second Olympics and I have high hopes of a medal from them because of their recent excellent record in international competitions," the Joint Secretary of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation said at a symposium organised by the Sports Journalists Federation of India here. Kowli, also Secretary of the Maharashtra boxing body, said while India would be represented by five pugilists in the August 8-24 Games, medal hopes were pinned more on this duo."Akhil Kumar has been a very consistent performer after his gold medal win in the Glasgow Commonwealth Championship in 2005 and the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne though CWG is only 30 per cent of Olympics (competition-wise). He was also declared the best boxer in the Asian qualifiers at Bangkok. I am sure he will bring good news," he said."Vijender is neat and clean in his technique and has beaten Athens Games medalist and Doha Asian Games winner Bakhtiyar Artayev of Uzbekistan on points in Taipei which is some achievement. I expect a lot from him too," Kowli said.
The other Indian boxers who would be seen at Beijing are Akhilesh Kumar Lakra (57kg), Jitender Kumar (51kg) and Dinesh Kumar (81kg).While the boxing official was upbeat, former sprint queen Nachappa held out little hopes of a medal in athletics unless ace long jumper Anju George betters her personal best of 6.85m."I wish I could say better things, but from previous experiences I don't hold any hopes of a medal in athletics unless Anju Bobby George betters her Athens best of 6.85m. It's sad (state of affairs) but true," Ashwini, the one-time national 100m women's champion, said.Ashwini recalled her bitter Olympic Games experience of 1988 when other teams were striving to win a medal the Indian contingent was trying to figure out their women's relay teams through repeated trials."I hope things turn out better now than in 1988 when repeated trials were conducted to suit one particular athlete," she said, without mentioning India's best-known female athlete P T Usha, carrying an injury then, by name."Though I don't expect any medals, it will be great if the athletes can try and better their personal bests."Apart from Anju, a few others like triple jumper Renjith Maheswari have qualified for the Games and Ashwini had another dig at the Athletics Federation of India's perceived favouritism towards women relay athletes by saying, "I would be surprised if the 4x400 m relay team does not go".Ace cueist Geet Sethi, who has formed the "Quest for Olympic Gold," venture with badminton great Prakash Padukone slammed the officials of the various Indian sports federations for treating sports persons like dirt.
"I had gone to watch the 2000 Sydney Games when I had floated a sports website and found the behaviour of the officials pompous at a show-boat party whereas the athletes wore a dejected and depressed look. This has to change," he emphasised."I saw the federations' officials strutting around with flamboyance and arrogance while the athletes were cowering before them. This, I recall, was after (Karnam) Malleswari had won her bronze (in weightlifting)", the former world professional billiards champion said.
While Col. Raja spoke about the technical aspects Manisha Malhotra, CEO Mittal Champions Trust feels boxing as a sport in India has a long way to go. She says, “Although India has won few medals in Beijing India still needs to get more wins to its credit to get to that level. Even in the Olympics people were busy watching tennis while we were winning in boxing. It was only after India won the medals that we saw some recognition for our athletes.
Indian boxers settle for bronze in World CupAll four Indian boxers lost their semi-finals and had to settle for bronze in the World Cup here. Three of them went down to boxers from Cuba, a traditional powerhouse in the sport. Barring Akhil Kumar, who put up a strong fight against Olympic silver medallist Leon Alarcon Yankiel, the rest of them fizzled out without much to show. Akhil, who had made it to the Beijing Olympics quarterfinal, showed resilience and fought bravely in the 54-kg (bantamweight) category. Akhil and Cuban Yankiel were tied 4:4 but the latter was declared the winner on countback. Jitender Kumar lost his semi-final bout to Cuban Hernandez Laffita, also an Olympic silver medallist. Jitender went down 6-14 in the 51 kg (flyweight) category. In another bout on Saturday, Anthresh Lakra (featherweight) lost to Cuban Idel Torriente 3:6 in the 57 kg category.In the 81kg (light heavyweight) bout, Dinesh Kumar retired in the second round after receiving heavy blows from Russian Artur Beterbiev, who took a 10-1 lead.
Gill gives Mary Kom a Christmas boostA day after four-time world champion M C Mary Kom vented her frustration at being ignored for Khel Ratna twice, Sports Minister MS Gill on Tuesday said he would ensure that the Manipuri boxer gets justice this time.
Gill called Mary Kom to his residence on Tuesday and assured her that her achievements would not go unnoticed. "She has done outstandingly well and I took note of her achievements. But there is a system for these awards and as a Minister, my job is to ensure that justice is done. I'll look into it and ensure that her case is argued and she is considered," he told PTI.
-Congratulations Comrades, wishing you all the very best and best wishes for a strong Asian Boxing fraternity !
Four-times AIBA women's world champion Mary Kom of India will be back in action for the first time
...more
3rd Mayor's SUPERCUP III Boxing Championship Final Result News
India's M C Mary Kom (46kg) re-asserted her status as the world's most successful woman boxer clinching an unprecedented fourth successive gold medal but India failed to retain the team crown at the fifth AIBA World Championships here on Saturday.
Indian pugilists continued their fine show in the women s world boxing championship with four out of the five who took the ring on Wednesday winning their quarterfinal bouts to assure at least four medals for the country.
MC Mary Kom (46kg) started her quest for a fourth successive title with a resounding victory to enter the quarter-finals as defending champions India rounded off an all-win day at the fifth World Women's Boxing Championships in Ningbo City (China).
Mary Kom in World Championship finals
MC Mary Kom remained on course for an unprecedented fourth successive title but India's hopes of retaining the team crown all but ended after two of its four pugilists lost their semi-final bouts in the fifth World Women's boxing championship on Friday.
Big leap for Indian boxing: four medals assured
India's boxing bronze at the Olympics was no fluke
and that the country's pugilists have arrived on the big stage was confirmed
when India were assured of medals from all four of their boxers competing
at the World Cup in Moscow on Thursday, after fly-weight Jitender Kumar
stormed into the semi-finals of the event. Jitender convincingly won 18-6
against Jo Gage of Wales.
Sarita advances; Preeti
loses Indian pugilists had a mixed day in the office with defending champion L. Sarita breezing into the quarterfinals of the World women s boxing championships while Preeti Beniwal fell by the wayside. In her second round bout Sarita tamed Samiha Hassan of Egypt, 12-5 to storm into the last eight stage of the 52kg category. She now takes on Tserenchimeg Tserendorj of Mongolia.National champion Sarita took her opponent by surprise with her early aggression, to take a 4-1 lead after the first round. The Egyptian tried her best to keep up in the second round but Sarita hit back with a vengeance in the third, winning five of the seven points, to seal the bout in style.
Preeti, however, was not so lucky and the Indian crashed out after losing the second round match 3-7 to Cheng Dong of China in the 60kg category.
Inside the World Cup Ring : India wins
accolades with Akhil's powerpacked play and Jay wins mandate with his
spotless performance !
Boxers' powerplay : Big leap for Indian boxing . . .
Indian Boxing has come of age. India's boxing bronze at the Olympics was
no fluke and that the country's pugilists have arrived on the big stage
was confirmed when India were assured of medals from all four of their
boxers competing at the World Cup in Moscow on Thursday, after fly-weight
Jitender Kumar stormed into the semi-finals of the event. winning convincingly
18-6 against Jo Gage of Wales while Akhil Kumar became the second Indian
pugilist to assure a medal for himself at the AIBA Boxing World Cup in
Moscow, Dinesh Kumar has also outpunched Algeria s Abdelhafid Benchabla
17-11 to make an entry into the semi-finals and Mumbai based Anthresh
Lakra reached semis to assure imself a medal at the least. However, all
four Indian boxers lost their semi-finals and had to settle for bronzes
in the World Cup. Three of them went down to boxers from Cuba, a traditional
powerhouse in the sport. Barring Akhil Kumar, who put up a strong fight
against Olympic silver medallist Leon Alarcon Yankiel, the rest of them
fizzled out without much to show. Akhil, who had made it to the Beijing
Olympics quarterfinal, showed resilience and fought bravely in the 54-kg
(bantamweight) category. Akhil and Cuban Yankiel were tied 4:4 but the
latter was declared the winner on countback. Jitender Kumar lost his semi-final
bout to Cuban Hernandez Laffita, also an Olympic silver medallist. Jitender
went down 6-14 in the 51 kg (flyweight) category. In another bout on Saturday,
Anthresh Lakra (featherweight) lost to Cuban Idel Torriente 3:6 in the
57 kg category.In the 81kg (light heavyweight) bout, Dinesh Kumar retired
in the second round after receiving heavy blows from Russian Artur Beterbiev,
who took a 10-1 lead. Overall Indian Boxing earned some respect with Boxers'
fearless salvos on to their famed opponents. It has earned its respect
now !Narsi's stellar role . . .
Indian Boxing's old fox and a well known international boxing figure Mr
Kishen Narsi added one more to his long & colourful list of meets
as he attended this prestigious event officiating as an ITO and also contributed
to AIBA's new development programme as Dy Chairman of AIBA Technical &
Rules Commission. This was Kishen's 9th major international meet in year
2008 with a technical very well conducted Commonwealth Youth Games meet
as its Technical Delegate back home in India. Dr Wu relies heavily on
this experienced brain of Boxing as much weight is added every passing
event on this enthusiastic 70 years 'young' shoulders !
Jay Kowli Shines . . .
Jay Kowli has done it again ! After his record 121 bouts officiating as
Referee Judge at the Mexico World Championships, this AIBA Referee Judge
once again topped at the AIBA World Cup held at Moscow in Dec 2008.
The newly formulated World Cup is considered as the top boxing event in
the AIBA world. Arguably the best Referee Judge of the meet with spotless
performance as Judge & maximum Refereeing amongst World s top 15
Referee Judges ( some of which officiated at Beijing Olympics as well
), Jay was given the customary honour of Refereeing the 1st Final of Moscow
World Cup alongwith deputation to judge 6 other finals; the maximum amount
of officiating in the finals ! Jay s performance in 2008 saw some excellent
work in & around the roped square as he is the only AIBA Official
who has worked on 4 out of 5 AIBA continents with a rare distinction of
officiating in the finals on all four continents. Boxing world selects
only the best Referee Judges to officiate the finals.
Icing on the cake came when Jay was given honour to represent all the
world s Referee Judges in the AIBA Forum on Scoring that was held at
World Trade Centre Auditorium, Moscow over tenaciaous three hour duration.
The forum which was compered by Mr Ed Hulla, the noted editor of worldfamous
Atlanta US based sporting magazine 'Around the Rings' and attended by
Boxing's all & mighty from all around the world was a revealtion of
lot of untold stories & sides of this gallant yet controversial Olympic
sport. The other distinguised experts on the dias were Mr Semen Rikhtman
the world famous Russian Coach who pioneered in adpoting to computerised
scoring in late 70s, Mr Ray Silvas the DyChairman of R&J Comission
AIBA, Mr Kishen Narsi the Dy Chairman of Tech & Rules Commission AIBA
& Dr Charles Butler Chairman Medical Commission AIBA. Statistian scholars
& experts from Moscow University, AIBA bigwigs Dr Humbert Furrgoni,
Dr Mohammed Soltani, Prof Agajan Abiev, Mr Franco Falcinelli, Gen Joseph
Ayeni alongwith hosts of coaches & boxers had a very interesting intellectual
interaction with Jay Kowli who very strongly represented Referee Judges'
concerns & opinions to AIBA world. Jay tabled the problems Referee
Judges face and also suggested some new insights regarding improving the
judging, scoring & evaluation system in AIBA world.
At the end, a very big round of applause was given to the participants
as AIBA President Dr C K Wu, who was present in the audience, patted Jay
with a very big smile and deep appreciation. Dr Wu & Mr Ho Kim Executive
Director, urged Jay to submit with his findings & recommendations
to AIBA to improve Boxing scoring system Kowli, once again flying India's
flag high in AIBA arena, also made all the RefereeJudges present there
in audience feel proud & confident with his genuine intelligent handling
of the difficult subject. Conclusion was clarity, understanding &
appreciation for the most difficult task that Referee Judges handle.
Collectivelly for our brave Boxers, Kishen & Jay . . . a rare honour
for India ! ! !
Playing a punch-and-run game, the 2008 AIBA World Youth Boxing champion beat his opponent all ends up. Nanao gained a comprehensive 5-0 lead in the first round and built on it in the subsequent rounds. Though Paramjeet tried to engage Nanao up and close, the wily boxer came up with a new trick every time and got away by scoring points comfortably. The Manipur lad was far swift in his movements and Paramjeet fell to his guiles. Paramjeet paid the cost of landing punches late. In the welterweight category, 2007 Asian Championship bronze medallist Dilbag Singh of Railways fought spiritedly to down Uralov Doniyar of Uzbekistan 7-3. Dilbag relentlessly charged his opponent and dominated the show right from the start. Early in the first round, the railway man piled up a 5-1 lead, which he comfortably extended to 7-2 in the second round. The Uzbek boxer tried his level best to score but could not match Dilbag s swift movements and better punching power. With Dilbag securing a five-point lead and Uzbek always playing catch up, the third round turned out be a low scoring affair with the bout finally ending in Dilbag s favour.
Indian boxer Thokchom Nanao has won gold medal at the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico. He defeated Grigoriy Nikolaychuk of Russia 15-5 to clinch the gold medal. The 18 -year-old Army boxer had won gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, Maharastra last month and a silver medal at last year's commonwealth championship. Thokchom Nanao was the lone medalist in the event. India finished 9th in the championship. A total of 287 boxers from 58 countries in 11 weight categories competed in the Championship. India had sent a seven-member team for the event.
Nanao Singh in Youth World Championship finalThokchom Nanao Singh out-punched Frenchman Jeremy Beccu 14-4 to storm into the light fly weight division finals of the inaugural AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships at Guadalajara, Mexico.The Services pugilist, a gold medallist at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, will now be up against last year's Cadet World Championship bronze medallist and Russian Youth Champion Grigoriy Nikolaychuk in the summit clash.The lone Indian left in fray in Mexico, Nanao Singh has a fine international record to boast of, having won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Championship last year besides a gold at this year's Juvenile Olympic Games in Santiago de, Cuba.India sent a seven-member team for the Youth Championship in Mexico but six of them crashed out by the quarterfinal stage.
Watch AIBA First World Youth Boxing Championships Guadalajara 2008
Born in Bhiwani, the cradle of boxers, it was natural for young Vijender to embrace the sport his brother Manoj, himself a national champion, pursued. He was hardly in his teens when he donned Manoj s sizeable gloves. Spotting his extraordinary talent, Sports Authority of India coach Jagdish Singh was quick to induct him into the Bhiwani Boxing Club. The stint gave him exposure in the national circuit and kindled his fire to bestride the hurdles and reign atop. And as he grew up, his dreams grew bigger.Determined to succeed as he was, it didn t take Vijender long to master the tricks of the pugilists trade. He was only 15 when he buckled twin national titles, both junior and senior. Further noteworthy performances earned him a berth in the 2004 Athens Olympics, a dream that was probably realised too early.
Blame it on big-stage blues or complacency, but Vijender succumbed to lesser-known Turk Mustafa Karagollu in the first round of the men s light-welter category. Disappointed he was, but not disheartened. Taking the setback in its stride, Vijender resumed practice. What followed were workouts, workouts and more workouts, sans funds, sponsors or recognition. But he didn t spare any chance to compete in tournaments, even local tournaments. Meanwhile, he switched to the middleweight category and found the arena amiable to his stature.It was only a matter of time before Vijender s resolve and fortitude bore dividends. He clinched the bronze at the Doha Asiad 2006 and silver at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Though he was affected by a back injury early this year, he recovered quickly enough to strike gold in the Olympic qualifier in Kazakhstan. To further galvanise his Olympic medal hopes, the Arjuna awardee drubbed reigning Olympic gold-medallist Bakhtiyar Artayev of Kazakhstan 12-7 in the quarterfinal of the inaugural AIBA President s Cup in Sinjhuang City. The win was sweeter as the Kazak had edged him out in the semifinal of the Asian Games. However, Vijender yielded to Thailand s Angkhan Chomphuphu in a controversial semifinal bout.The stint with German boxers, followed by an international event, should see the five-member Indian squad in good shape. National coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu expects his boys to peak by the Olympics. And certainly, Vijender will be his trump card.
Commonwealth
Youth Games Pune 2008 commences with a glittering ceremonyThe rich cultural heritage of India and the great Maratha spirit came alive today, as the spectacular sporting bonanza of the Commonwealth Youth Games 2008 began in Pune. Her Excellency, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil , President of India, declared the Games open in the presence of eminent dignitaries, famed athletes and gallaries full of sports lovers.
The hon'ble collector of Diu Mr Sanjay Goel IAS inaugurated this annual championships meet of India's West Zonal Boxing Council on 19th December to commemorate the Liberation Day of Daman & Diu from Portuguese rule. Entire town of Diu was decorated & wore a festive look as Diu Festival was organised with great fanfare.
Indian Boxing has come of age. India's boxing bronze at the Olympics was no fluke and that the country's pugilists have arrived on the big stage was confirmed when India were assured of medals from all four of their boxers competing at the World Cup in Moscow on Thursday, after fly-weight Jitender Kumar stormed into the semi-finals of the event....More
While Akhil Kumar becomes the second Indian pugilist to assure a medal for himself at the AIBA Boxing World Cup in Moscow, Dinesh Kumar has also outpunched Algeria s Abdelhafid Benchabla 17-11 to make an entry into the semi-finals.
AIBA World Cup, Moscow, 2008 - Live Scoring
A four-time world champion, MC Mary Kom has never been considered worthy for Khel Ratna and disturbed by the apathy, the Manipuri - arguably world's most successful woman boxer - is asking what more she needs to do to get the country's highest sporting honour.
"I have won the World Championship four times on the trot. (Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh) Dhoni gets a Khel Ratna for winning just one World Cup, I fail to understand why am I being ignored then. How can anybody expect an athlete to stay motivated if he or she is ignored like that?" Mary Kom said on Monday.
Mumbai to Moscow. Jay Kowli has completed a full circle. Those who know him will remember Jay, the Mumbai based International Sports Administrator of today, as a live wire volunteer who worked tirelessly hard at the MRF World Cup held at Bombay Gymkhana in 1990. Jay will be on duty inside the ropes at the forthcoming AIBA Elite Mens World Cup 2008 to be held at in Moscow, the capital of Russia during 10th to 14th December 2008.
1ST
AIBA YOUTH WORLD BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP AT GUADALAJARA, MEXICO FROM OCTOBER
23 TO NOVEMBER 02, 2008
Indian pugilists ready for actionPune: The boldness in Indian boxing, on show at the Beijing Olympics, will be witnessed in the ring once again as the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) 2008 gets underway on Sunday. An eight-member squad is gearing up for action at the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Ghorpadi near Pune, for the competition to be held at the Balewadi complex.
Boxers had good showing at CYGThe 10 athletes and four coaches representing The Bahamas at the Third Commonwealth Games in India began competition on Sunday, with the two Grand Bahamian boxers in the ring.
India way ahead in medals tally in CYG meetThe Indians were on top of the world at the Balewadi Sports Complex as they emerged as the giant killers in the third edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG).In boxing, It was Nanao Singh Thokchom of Army Sports Institute who opened the account knocking out Zack Davies of Wales 25-10 in the lightfly 48kg category. However, it was Shanthosh Virothu of Andhra Pradesh who made the country proud as the Vishakhapatnam boxer battled high fever to outpunch Jonker Alexander of South Africa 16-4. Sixteen-year-old Shanthosh is also an ASI cadet, having won 40th Junior Men National Boxing at Warangal in October last year.
In the next bout, Balwinder Singh, first cousin of Beijing Olympics bronze medallist Vijender Kumar, defeated Benjamin Shamoon of Canada in the tie-breaker to win the gold in the welter weight (69kg) category. Another ASI boxer, Satender had to settle for the silver when he bowed to Stuart Twardzik of Canada in the middleweight (75kg) category. Sunil Sandhu in the fly weight
Mission CYG over,
now targeting Mexican victory After winning seven medals including three gold at the CYG on Friday the six -member Indian boxing squad comprising of four CYG participants will leave for New Delhi on Sunday for much tougher mission. The pugilists will board flight to Mexico on October 22 to participate in the World Junior Championship from October 25 to November 2.
Vijender, Akhil return to boxing ring
With euphoric celebrations of their power-packed Olympic performance finally settling, the star boxing trio of Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar will return to the ring when the national camp kicks off at NIS, Patiala from October 1.The Indian Boxing Federation's selection committee - headed by Dronacharya awardee O P Bhardwaj - has selected 60 pugilists for the month-long camp which may be extended by a week or two. Vijender, who became the country's first ever Olympic medallist in boxing, is not too sure about joining the camp from the very start but says he would be there for as many days as he can manage from his now-packed schedule.
National boxing squad named The Indian Boxing Association today named the 13-member national squad for the 4th Asian Women s Boxing Championship to be held at Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium in Sarusajai Sports Complex here from September 23 to 29.
Born in Bhiwani, the cradle of boxers, it was natural for young Vijender to embrace the sport his brother Manoj, himself a national champion, pursued. He was hardly in his teens when he donned Manoj s sizeable gloves. Spotting his extraordinary talent, Sports Authority of India coach Jagdish Singh was quick to induct him into the Bhiwani Boxing Club. The stint gave him exposure in the national circuit and kindled his fire to bestride the hurdles and reign atop. And as he grew up, his dreams grew bigger.Determined to succeed as he was, it didn t take Vijender long to master the tricks of the pugilists trade. He was only 15 when he buckled twin national titles, both junior and senior. Further noteworthy performances earned him a berth in the 2004 Athens Olympics, a dream that was probably realised too early.
Blame it on big-stage blues or complacency, but Vijender succumbed to lesser-known Turk Mustafa Karagollu in the first round of the men s light-welter category. Disappointed he was, but not disheartened. Taking the setback in its stride, Vijender resumed practice. What followed were workouts, workouts and more workouts, sans funds, sponsors or recognition. But he didn t spare any chance to compete in tournaments, even local tournaments. Meanwhile, he switched to the middleweight category and found the arena amiable to his stature.It was only a matter of time before Vijender s resolve and fortitude bore dividends. He clinched the bronze at the Doha Asiad 2006 and silver at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Though he was affected by a back injury early this year, he recovered quickly enough to strike gold in the Olympic qualifier in Kazakhstan. To further galvanise his Olympic medal hopes, the Arjuna awardee drubbed reigning Olympic gold-medallist Bakhtiyar Artayev of Kazakhstan 12-7 in the quarterfinal of the inaugural AIBA President s Cup in Sinjhuang City. The win was sweeter as the Kazak had edged him out in the semifinal of the Asian Games. However, Vijender yielded to Thailand s Angkhan Chomphuphu in a controversial semifinal bout.The stint with German boxers, followed by an international event, should see the five-member Indian squad in good shape. National coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu expects his boys to peak by the Olympics. And certainly, Vijender will be his trump card.
Stage set for Asian women s boxing meetThe teams from Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Macao, Sri Lanka and Mongolia arrived here today for the fourth Asian Women s Boxing Championship scheduled to be held at the Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium, Sarusajai here from Tuesday. While the Kazakhstan and Sri Lankan teams are accommodated at the Hotel Nakshatra along with DPR Korea and Korea, other country teams like Macao, Mongolia, Vietnam along with host India have been given accommodate at the Hotel Biswaratna.Teams from China, Chinese Taipei, Nepal and will reach here on Monday.Both Sri Lankan and Kazakstan teams are comprising of eight boxers while Vietnam has seven boxers and Mongolia team will be represented by five boxers. Macao is participating with a small team of four boxers. B Kalyan Chakravorthy, secretary general of the organising committee revealed that all arrangements have been completed to host the maiden official international sports event in the state. Chakravorthy, while talking to this correspondent said that the progress of works for holding the mega event are on right track and the organising committee hopes for a successful conduction of the championship.The setting up of the ring is completed at the competition venue along with a practice ring outside the indoor stadium. A dressed rehearsal for the opening ceremony was also conducted in the stadium today. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi will inaugurate the championship at 3 pm.
Gloves off! Vijender smacks some mock punches as he sashays down the ramp
Ace boxer Marykom eyes Gold in London
Olympics Three-time world and three-time Asian women boxing champion, Marykom was confident that India would shine in women boxing, to be included for the first time in London Olympics.Padma Shree and Arjuna awardee Marycom, mother of twins, who is participating in the national coaching cawwmp here, is thrilled that India has bagged first medal in boxing in Beijing and now would like to win the Gold in the newly Introduced category in Olympics.
WARM SEND OFF TO BEIJING BOUND BOXERS BY BOXING
FEDERATION PRESIDENT ABHAY SINGH CHAUTALA The Beijing bound Indian Boxing Contingent comprising of 5 boxers, 2 coaches, 1 physio and 1 manager were given a warm send off by the Boxing Federation President Mr. Abhay Singh Chautala. The boxers and the coaches were positive and confident that they would give their lifes best performance at the Beijing Olympics 2008.
Indian Boxing Federation thanks the
Indian Olympic Association for having acceded to our request of including
the World Famous South African Physiotherapist Mr Heath Mathews to accompany
the Boxing Contingent to Beijing. This wonderful gesture will certainly
pay rich dividends in India s quest for a podium finish for the pugilists
at Beijing 2008...The Indian Boxing Contingent which is presently training at NIS Patiala will arrive at Delhi on 31 July to complete pre-departure formalities and will leave for Beijing in the early hours of 02 August at 0315 hrs by AIR CHINA - CA 948 and reach Beijing at 1215 hrs the same day.The Indian Contingent will comprise of BOXERS: Jitender Kumar (51 kgs), Akhil Kumar (54 kgs), AL Lakra (57 kgs), Vijender (75 kgs) & Dinesh Kumar (81 kgs). COACHES: GS Sandhu (National Coach) & BI Fernandez (Cuban Coach). PHYSIOTHERAPIST: Heath Mathews (South Africa). MANAGER: Khoibi Salam (Manipur).The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has announced that the Official Draw of the Boxers for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing will be done with a manual draw system. This decision has been made in order to provide an exciting and thrilled demonstration of boxers bouts in each weight category.The Official Draw Ceremony will be conducted from 11:00 until 13:00 on August 8, 2008 in the Grand Ballroom of Asia Hotel in Beijing.Boxing at the Olympic Games will commence on 09 August and the Finals will be on 24 August 2008.The entire Boxing fraternity of the Indian Boxing Federation wishes the Beijing bound 5 Indian Boxers and the Officials the very best of luck and god s grace to do well and win Olympic Medals for the Country this time. May we request the sports loving public of India to pray in earnest and send their good wishes for our young lads to create Olympic history by winning the coveted medals at Beijing 2008.
Boxers say they got all help and facilitiesNew Delhi: India's first-ever individual boxing medallist Vijender Singh made it clear that he and his teammates got all facilities from both the government agencies as well as the boxing federation in the run-up to the Beijing Games. It was a day of felicitation for the Olympic heroes as wrestler Sushil Kumar and the boxers called on President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Sports Minister M.S. Gill Tuesday.
"If we did not have the facilities how could we have done so well and won a medal," said the bronze medal winner at a felicitation function raised by the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) president Abhay Chautala for the Olympic boxing team here. Even as he praised the role of the media in promoting boxing, Vijender wondered where from the stories of boxers being on their own emanated as neither he nor his teammates had ever complained about the lack of help or facilities. If the sport continued to get the kind of exposure in the media, the boxers will come up with more medals from the 2012 London Olympics. Chief coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu chipped in to say that SAI in Patiala as well as in Delhi gave the boxers immense support and they had no cause for any complaint. On a personal note, Chautala said if there were any shortcoming on the part of the IABF it would try to address them. Chautala also lauded Sandhu's commitment to Indian boxing, saying he had come out of retirement to take care of the Olympics team.
Chautala, however, refused to spell out the federation's plans to promote the sport, saying that he would do so during the national championships at Bhatinda, starting September 5, and quipped: "First let me get elected as president again." Praising Vijender for winning the bronze, Chautala said Akhil and Jitender, too, would have won a medal each if only they had been fully fit.
"Akhil was down with a virus and had to be put on antibiotics to be fit for the quarter-final bout, while Jitender had ten stitches on his forehead before his bout. When he could beat World No. 3 and world champion in the previous two rounds, Akhil could have won against a lesser ranked boxer in the quarters," said the IABF chief. Chautala said it was creditable that three of the Indian boxers finished among the top eight boxers in the world at the Olympics and if their performance chart continued to go up, India would win a medal in every weight category at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Both Vijender and Akhil also praised the contribution of chief coaches Sandhu and Cuban B.I. Fernandez as well assistant coaches Jaidev Bisht and Raman. "Our caoches and sparring partners egged us on to do well in Beijing and they all deserve a big thanks from us."
Vijender may spring a surprise
Akhil, Jitender
stroll into pre-quarters...
After a training camp in Germany and the (IABF) Indian amateur boxing federation
is confident that the team have realistic medal chances at the 2008 Bejing
Olympics this August
It
is under a radiant sun that the children of the elementary school Jean DAUDRE
of LAGNY-LE-SEC (OISE) found Saturday June 28, 2008 to take part in the
first Olympiads organized by the Association of the parents of pupils. It
was an occasion for our referee Jean-Robert Lainé and its Police
Association Youth to make discover our sport by proposing an initiation
with Educational Boxing. All the children could initiate themselves with
the practice of olympic boxing with little games but also with a setting
of gloves. This activity gained a sharp success near the hundred participating
children and also near the delighted parents by admire their offspring to
practise noble art ! ...More
Tyson the inspiration
for Shiva Thapa s golden featThe Capital s sealing drive had forced a quick shutdown of the boxing federation s office in the Capital, and among the documents that just about managed to be rescued were the travel papers of these five youngsters. “I knew a little bit about what was going on regarding the sealing, but I m glad we made it to Azerbaijan, said a beaming Thapa, after the squad s return to New Delhi this morning.
Sealing catches boxing officials
on wrong footThe Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) found itself in an embarrassing situation over the weekend when the NDMC officials locked up its temporary office at Lajpat Nagar, almost resulting in the junior women s squad to Turkey and the sub junior men s squad to Azerbaijan from missing the tournaments. The IABF officials were caught unawares as officials of the NDMC s sealing drive descended on the building to close the basement premises from where the federation has been functioning since their eviction from the Nehru Stadium three months ago.
Senior IABF officials rushed to the office and were given three hours to take whatever papers they could, including the teams s passports and travel documents. Confirming this, IABF s secretary-general PK Muralidharan Raja said, “We could just manage to beat the sealing deadline. Otherwise, the teams would have got stranded here with all the passports and travel documents locked inside. The women s team left on Sunday, while the sub-junior men s squad is scheduled to leave later tonight. Raja said the travel documents of the five boxers who have qualified for the Beijing Olympics — AL Lakra, Akhil Kumar, Jitender, Vijender and Dinesh for the AIBA President s Cup in Chinese Taipei from May 24, were also in the office locker. With the Olympics just three months away, the boxing federation has not been fully functional. In fact, almost all sports federations that had moved out of the Nehru Stadium due to Commonwealth Games renovations are functioning from their secretaries s residences.Raja said permanent accommodation for federations was one of the main topics of discussion during a GTCC meet in Pune, venue of this year s Commonwealth Youth Games. He said IOA president Suresh Kalmadi has assured that he would try and house them at the IG Stadium, but officials in the Sports Authority of India (SAI) were non-committal, fearing the federations may never return the premises to SAI.
That s how they occupied the Nehru Stadium so many years ago. But for the renovation that is going on, no one would have vacated. So many of them have huge bills pending, said a SAI official who did not want to be named.
Sunil,
Sarita get big chequesThe recipients: Vijender (Rs. 8 lakh), Harpreet Singh (5 lakh), Paramjit Singh (3 lakh), Chotte Lal Yadav (3 lakh), Naoba Meitei (2 lakh); S. Santosh Singh (7 lakh), Parminder Singh (1 lakh), Sunil (11 lakh), Akshay Kumar (1 lakh), Dinesh Kumar (1 lakh), Manjeet Singh (60,000), Baljeet Singh (2 lakh), Suresh Kumar (1 lakh), Bhupender (80,000), Balwinder (80,000), Paramjit Sahota (2 lakh), N. Sarita Devi (10 lakh), Choto Loura (3 lakh). — Special Correspondent
India-Cuba
to Amplify Sports BondsM. S. Gill, new Indian Sports and Youth Minister, assured on Friday he wishes to continue strengthening cooperation in sports with Cuba. In a meeting with Cuban Ambassador Miguel Angel Ramirez, Gill, also a member of the Rajva Sabha (Lower Chamber), highlighted the traditional friendship joining both countries and the international prestige Cuba has earned in the field of sports. Ramirez recalled the recent visit of a team of Cuban diagnostic experts to Indian institutions to suggest ways to strengthen training. He also noted that four Cuban sports trainers are working in India, among them a boxing coach who helped two Indian boxers classify for the 2008 Olympic Games.
First and foremost let me again congratulate you for the nice manner in
which you organized yet another National Championship inspite of all odds.
Very few understand what goes into organizing a Event like this
specially away from your own hometown! I also thank you for the hospitality
that you extended to me, my daughter, my team, our Doctor and
to all our fellow brethren through boxing. We felt so much at home and the
Championship was ABSOLUTELY GREAT! - Lenny Da Gama
India picks up its pace for the CYG 2008 . . .
. . . Selection Trial Youth Nationals to be held in the 'Heart of India' city of Nagpur !
This is to inform you that Boxer(s)/Coach(es) of your
unit has/have been selected to attend the National Boxing Coaching Camp
for Sub-Junior Men to be held at Jamshedpur/STC Hisar
from July 14 to August 14,2008. The final venue will
be intimated to you in due course of time. The list of Boxer(s)/Coach(es)
is here by attached. In view of the above, you are requested
to kindly direct the individual to report at the camp venue on July 13,2008
with passport. Details
Boxing
official has high hopes on Vijender, Akhil at Beijing
"Vijender (75kg) and Akhil Kumar (54kg) are taking part in their second Olympics and I have high hopes of a medal from them because of their recent excellent record in international competitions," the Joint Secretary of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation said at a symposium organised by the Sports Journalists Federation of India here. Kowli, also Secretary of the Maharashtra boxing body, said while India would be represented by five pugilists in the August 8-24 Games, medal hopes were pinned more on this duo."Akhil Kumar has been a very consistent performer after his gold medal win in the Glasgow Commonwealth Championship in 2005 and the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne though CWG is only 30 per cent of Olympics (competition-wise). He was also declared the best boxer in the Asian qualifiers at Bangkok. I am sure he will bring good news," he said."Vijender is neat and clean in his technique and has beaten Athens Games medalist and Doha Asian Games winner Bakhtiyar Artayev of Uzbekistan on points in Taipei which is some achievement. I expect a lot from him too," Kowli said. The other Indian boxers who would be seen at Beijing are Akhilesh Kumar Lakra (57kg), Jitender Kumar (51kg) and Dinesh Kumar (81kg).While the boxing official was upbeat, former sprint queen Nachappa held out little hopes of a medal in athletics unless ace long jumper Anju George betters her personal best of 6.85m."I wish I could say better things, but from previous experiences I don't hold any hopes of a medal in athletics unless Anju Bobby George betters her Athens best of 6.85m. It's sad (state of affairs) but true," Ashwini, the one-time national 100m women's champion, said.Ashwini recalled her bitter Olympic Games experience of 1988 when other teams were striving to win a medal the Indian contingent was trying to figure out their women's relay teams through repeated trials."I hope things turn out better now than in 1988 when repeated trials were conducted to suit one particular athlete," she said, without mentioning India's best-known female athlete P T Usha, carrying an injury then, by name."Though I don't expect any medals, it will be great if the athletes can try and better their personal bests."Apart from Anju, a few others like triple jumper Renjith Maheswari have qualified for the Games and Ashwini had another dig at the Athletics Federation of India's perceived favouritism towards women relay athletes by saying, "I would be surprised if the 4x400 m relay team does not go".Ace cueist Geet Sethi, who has formed the "Quest for Olympic Gold," venture with badminton great Prakash Padukone slammed the officials of the various Indian sports federations for treating sports persons like dirt. "I had gone to watch the 2000 Sydney Games when I had floated a sports website and found the behaviour of the officials pompous at a show-boat party whereas the athletes wore a dejected and depressed look. This has to change," he emphasised."I saw the federations' officials strutting around with flamboyance and arrogance while the athletes were cowering before them. This, I recall, was after (Karnam) Malleswari had won her bronze (in weightlifting)", the former world professional billiards champion said.
"We need to throw out this defeatist attitude of the athletes. Those who have qualified for the Games need our full support now.
"Everyone I have met in India, from businessmen to doctors and other professionals want our athletes to win medals at the Olympics. They are willing to commit themselves financially. It needs only one gold medal to open up the floodgates (of gold medals)," he said optimistically.Shuttler Uday Pawar was not too happy with the way the Badminton Association of India has disallowed top shuttlers from going overseas to train and play matches."We can't replicate the Chinese model and flog the players to exhaustion by asking them to train endlessly. We have a limited pool and if we continue doing this most of them would be finished", the former international and doubles expert said."We should see the examples of (tennis players) Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza and (chess wizard) Viswanathan Anand who all train and play abroad," he said while hoping that India's two Olympic hopes in badminton, Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal, would do their best. Seasoned boxing official Kishen Narsi said the world boxing body is keen that the organising and judging is fair and free of controversies and has put in measures to ensure these like computerised draws.
Cash bonanza for boxersPromising junior and World cadet champion Sunil Kumar and Women s world champion Sarita Devi alongwith 16 others has been rewarded with cash prizes by the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr. M.S. Gill here on Friday. Sunil got the biggest purse of Rs 11 lakhs for his gold medals in the World Cadet and Asian Cadet championships. Similarly Sarita Devi received the whooping sum of Rs 10 lakhs for her achievements.
A total of eighteen boxers
were presented cash awards for their medal-winning efforts in competitions
ranging from the Commonwealth Games to the World Championship.Speaking
on the occasion, the Minister applauded the achievements of the boxers
and lauded the efforts of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF).'The
boxers certainly deserve all the credit for their achievements at the
international level,'' Gill said.He also assured that the government would
extend all possible support to the players to motivate them further to
excel in the international arena.
Proud Recipients: Vijender (Rs. 8 lakh), Harpreet Singh (5 lakh), Paramjit
Singh (3 lakh), Chotte Lal Yadav (3 lakh), Naoba Meitei (2 lakh); S. Santosh
Singh (7 lakh), Parminder Singh (1 lakh), Sunil (11 lakh), Akshay Kumar
(1 lakh), Dinesh Kumar (1 lakh), Manjeet Singh (60,000), Baljeet Singh
(2 lakh), Suresh Kumar (1 lakh), Bhupender (80,000), Balwinder (80,000),
Paramjit Sahota (2 lakh), N. Sarita Devi (10 lakh), Choto Loura (3 lakh).
Vijender was
never invited for torch relay: IABF
Former boxer complains about IOA's attitude
''It upsets me very much, if you don't honour the real achievers then how will get medal in Olympics,'' Devarajan complained. The IOA recently, ended KPS Gill's 15-year-old regime and gave former Olympians to take charge of the Indian Hockey Federation to help the country regain its lost glory.
The 34-year-old former Indian boxer also endorsed the Sports Minister MS Gill's statement that the torch relay should only include sportspersons.''Our Sports Minister's was right that the torchbeares should only have sportspersons,'' he added
Wanted ! An Office For Boxing Federation"We are not asking anything for free, we will pay for it but we need an office to work from. We have already told Indian Olympic Association President Suresh Kalmadi but it has been more than 10 days since that happened," IABF Secretary General P K Muralidharan Raja told reporters on Monday. The IABF was originally based in the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium but was forced to move out after renovation work started in the complex as part of preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the capital. The Federation relocated itself to a residential area in Lajpat Nagar but that office too was sealed by the NDMC a couple of weeks ago, leaving the IABF with no place to work from. The federation is now consigned to two rooms at the residence of a Delhi Boxing Association office bearer, who too is busy getting it renovated that requires some demolition work."This is an embarrassing situation for us. An AIBA Executive Committee member wants to come to India and he has been asking me 'when can I come' but I have been forced to give him one excuse or the other," Col Raja quipped. "The NDMC sealed our office on a day when we were supposed to send out a team for an international tournament. We somehow managed on that day but it is near impossible to keep working like this anymore," Raja added. Col Raja said he brought up the matter with the Sports Authority of India and the IOA, who have assured him of an office space soon. "We have told the IOA, SAI and they say they will find us a place in the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. We have also spoken to NDMC which runs the Talkatora Stadium but the situation is such that we need something urgently," he said.Problems aplenty for them but the IABF said it would still go ahead with its grand plans for the Olympic qualified boxers. "They will participate in the President's Cup in Taipei from May 24 to June 2 before a training-cum-competition event in Germany. No matter when we get our office, these boxers' schedule will go ahead as planned," he said. The qualified will leave for Beijing a week in advance to get themselves acclimatised with the local conditions.
Indian boxers hoping to end Olympic medal
drought Vijender Singh (75kg), Jitender Kumar (51kg) and Dinesh Kumar (81kg) - the Indian trio that booked the last available berths for Beijing in the Asian Qualifiers in Kazakhstan feel they have a great chance of making their own piece of history in the Chinese capital.Vijender, who beat an Olympic medallist en route to winning the gold medal at the qualifiers, will be participating in his second successive Olympics and feels a medal was definitely on the cards this time around. "I think I stand a good chance to win a medal and so do the rest who have qualified. It is a strong team and a medal should definitely come this time," he said. Commonwealth Games gold medallist Akhil Kumar (54kg) and AL Lakra (57kg) are the other two members of the five-strong Indian team for Beijing.The youngest of the five, Jitender, who beat a World Championship medallist in the qualifiers, said he was expecting the medal to come from his cousin Akhil. "I believe Akhil has the strongest chance among all of us," the 20-year-old, who has trained with Akhil and considers him his mentor, said. For Dinesh, who made it to the Olympics for the first time, it would be a chance to give his best at a stage he had only dreamt of. "I will give my best but the rest is in the hands of God," he replied on being asked about his medal hopes. "But I believe India will surely win a boxing medal in Beijing," Dinesh said. Their equally ecstatic coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu said his wards had proved that they were second to none in talent and only needed rigorous practice. "It is a sport where performance is subjective. This is one of the strongest teams that would represent India at the Olympics but let's hope that we get that bit of luck as well which is so very crucial for a medal," said Sandhu. His main concern going into the mega event would be to keep his wards' - especially the first-time qualifiers' - emotions in check. "Olympics are huge. The magnitude of the event can actually get the better of you and it would be my job to make sure that none of my boys get awestruck by the big stage," he said.
The team landed in the capital late last night to a warm reception, which took them by surprise. "It was amazing. We were not expecting so many people to turn up for us. I think around 200-300 people greeted us on arrival and it was very heart-warming. We were surprised to see the media, which I thought only liked to cover cricket," quipped Vijender, who is an Arjuna awardee and an Asian Games bronze medallist. The qualifiers have a hectic schedule coming up as they prepare to realise their Olympic dreams.
On Akhil's birthday, his coach remembers
the struggleJagdish, a coach with the Sports Authority of India for years, has churned out many boxers and it s not for nothing that Akhil, who turned 27 on Thursday, occupies a special place in his life. His fighting spirit, a never-say-die attitude and unflinching devotion have endeared Akhil to Jagdish. "He came to me when I was in Gurgaon in 1994 and two years later when I was transferred, he was the only boxer who came with me to Bhiwani. Since then he has been a part of my life," said Jagdish. When Akhil came to Jagdish, he was only 13 years old. Since then, both have seen many roadblocks. Jagdish said Akhil never got a chance to represent India at the sub-junior level due to politics in team selection. He was part of the national junior team in late nineties and bagged his first medal, a bronze, in Germany.
"His experience at the senior level was also not good. In 2001 he was picked for the national camp at Pune. He boarded the train at Delhi only to be asked to get down at Faridabad by a senior sports official who wanted his candidate to be in the camp," Jagdish recalled. "Somehow, we managed to get him into the camp, but he quit it after sensing the indifferent attitude of the coaching staff."Jagdish believes that was the turning point in Akhil s career. "It was then that I felt the need to turn his ‘low guard stance to his strength. Days of hard work made this unusual style pay off. Today, in his category, he s one of the best in the world," the coach said.
Jagdish sees Beijing as the last chance for him to sign off from the coaching field in style.
Fantastic performance of our 5 boxers who
have qualified for the Beijing Olympics This new record of 5 boxers qualifying for the Olympics would not have been possible without the wholehearted support, assistance and hardwork by every one of you throughout the last four years. The Indian boxers, Coaches, Officials and all office bearers of the Federation and Association have toiled in earnest to get this excellant results. Special mention must be made of the role played by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, SAI, IOA and the Mittal Champions Trust in this great performance by our boxer. The Complete Indian Boxing Family wishes Jitender Kumar (51 kgs), Akhil Kumar (54 kgs), AL Lakra (57 kgs), Vijender (75 kgs) & Dinesh Kumar (81 kgs)the very best of luck for their bid for a medal at the Being Olympics. With barely four months to go for the main event, the Federation in consultation with the National Coach Mr GS Sandhu, Cuban Coach Mr Fernandez, the IOA, MoYAS & SAI will be drawing up a plan to optimally utilise the time left, for the best preparation for the boxers.
Let us all pray to God Almighty to help our 5 stalwarts to achieve the miracle that Indian Boxing has been waiting for - MEDALS AT THE BEIJING OLYMPICS !!! "
IABF calendar slots for 2008-09 finalised
by LTFC Committee. Bidding Invited
IABF RJ Refresher
seminar was held at Hissar on 10-14 March 2008 Mrudula
Patankar, the Best Boxer at the Sub Junior & Junior Girls Nationals
at Assam
Akhil
Kumar, the 'Best Boxer' enters Olympics in style by clinching Award at
1st Asian Olympic Qualifier at Bangkok
Vijender, Best Boxer at Super
Cup, the 2nd Interzonal National Championship's at Akola, Maharashtra
IABF AGM was held at Hissar
on 16th March 2008...More
India's Vipin Kumar BEST BOXER 6th AIBA World Champion, Indian Team Clinches
Top Position...2007 India's
Boxing performance in Doha Asian Games 2006...More
Indian tigresses with the Gold necklace, Marykom did Hat-Trick - 4th World
Women Boxing Championships, New Delhi...2004
Mr.
Kishen Narsi is on International Boxing Association...2007
2nd JUNIOR ASIAN BOXING CHAMP'S, GOA. . . A GRAND SUCCESS...2007