NEW DELHI: An eight-member Indian boxing team will take part in the "Belgrade Winner 2011" championships in Serbia April 20-24.
Announcing this, the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) said that the boxers would be taking part in various international events as part of its training-cum-competition schedule in the run-up to the World Championships.
For the Indian boxers this is the second international competition after the Guangzhou Asian Games in November. Another team is now in Yerevan, Armenia, taking part in an international event (April 6-17).
These competitions are part of the first phase of the boxers' preparation for the London Olympics next year and national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu says the competition is going to be tough in Serbian capital Belgrade as European and Russian boxers will be taking part.
"It is not going to be easy, but the tournament will provide a perfect platform to train the Indian boxers for events like the Asian and World Championships and the Olympics next year."
"Medals are not our priority, these competitions will be a big learning curve for our boxers and I want them to gain experience from these events," said Sandhu.
The tournaments like the one in Belgrade will fine tune the boxers for the World Championships in September and it is also the first qualifying event for the London Olympics.
"Participating in international competitions is the best way to prepare for the World Championships and it also provides an opportunity to assess the boxers' form in the run up to the Olympic qualifying events," said IABF secretary-general P.K. Muralidharan Raja.
The team was selected at the Jamshedpur National Games by selectors Mehtab Singh, Mohd. Ali Qamar and Gopal Devang and coach Sandhu.
Youth Olympic bronze medallist and Asian Games gold medallist Vikas Krishan, Commonwealth Games gold medallist and bronze winner at the Guangzhou Asian Games Pramjeet Samota, Olympian and Asian Games silver medallist Dinesh Kumar will lead the Indian Challenge in Serbia.
Shiva Thapa, a silver medallist at the 2010 Youth Olympics, Manpreet Singh, Asian Games silver medallist, Kuldeep Singh, Manoj Kumar and Mandeep Jangra are the other members of the squad.
National Coach Jaydev Bisht and Cuban coach B.I.Fernandez will be accompanying the team to Serbia.
The squad: 56 KG: Shiva Thapa (Services); 60kg: Vikas Krishnan (HARyana); 64kg: Manoj Kumar (Railways); 69kg: Mandeep Jangra (Delhi); 75kg: Kuldeep Singh (Railways); 81kg: Dinesh Kumar (AIP); 91kg: Manpreet Singh (Services); 91+kg:Paramjeet Samota (Railways).