A Common Fan’s Sports Diary

We can't just count on Vijender every time. We need more like him

First the good news.

Vijender Kumar became the first Indian to win a medal at the World Championships, further consolidating his position as one of the best in his weight category. This will ensure that continues to maintain an impressive world ranking which in turn assures him of a relatively easier draw in the major World events including the 2012 Olympics. This is important because we don’t want our best medal bet to be running into a world champion in the early rounds.

The other impressive performer was Jai Bhagwan Singh who made the quarters. He is coming along nicely and could be another medal contender in London.

Now the bad news

Five others, including Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar disappointed hugely, losing comprehensively in the first round itself. The two were quarter-finalists in the last Olympics and won bronze medals at the World Cup. I just hope this is a temporary blip and not the beginning of their decline.

The energy of Akhil Kumar lifts the entire squad and we cannot afford to see him go downhill right now. He has decided to move back to his original weight category and hopefully that will be the panacea to this sudden malaise.

Future Outlook for Indian Boxing

At the Olympics three of the five Indians made the quarters or better. The same number made the last eight stage in Milan but the flurry of first round defeats was a setback.

Also, at the last World Championships, India had finished 21st with the eight boxers winning a total of nine bouts. This time round, the nine Indians won eight bouts and the team finished 24th. Considering, that Vijender himself won three of those, the overall effort was a little disappointing.

We must celebrate Vijender’s feat but at the same time we need to take stock of the overall effort and make plans for the future. Indian boxing has taken a huge leap forward but we shouldn’t get too carried away with that. We need to show more ambition and aim for more boxers winning more medals at top level world meets.

And by more, I don’t mean one more medal. The ambition should be to win three to four medals with atleast one being gold. Our boxers have great potential and we can surely make this happen.

Go Indian Boxing

A rare champion

Cricketers are by far the richest sportspersons in India, with the exception of Vishwanathan Anand and a couple of golfers probably. But when was the last time a cricketer gave away his money for a good cause?

I don’t remember ever. And don’t count the charity games they play in.

On the other end of the spectrum, there is hardly any money in amateur boxing. The AIBA Boxing World Cup was a rare event that offered prize money. Our bronze-medal winning boxers won 2,500 USD each – peanuts compared to most other sports.

But, in spite of the meagre amount , boxers Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar, decided to distribute a share of their prize money to the coaching staff comprising – Sandhu, Bisht, Ramanand and C Kuttappa. “We will give $500 to each of them as these people matter the most. They wipe our blood and sweat and put in the effort to prepare us for the toughest in the world. They are the unsung heroes,” said Akhil.

Now you decide, who is richer – cricketers or boxers