MADIKERI: “India will surely win many medals in the boxing category in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” said Chenanda A Kuttappa, the coach of the Indian boxing team. A native of Kodagu, Kutappa is the recipient of the Dronacharya Award.
Boxer Amit Panghal, who won silver medal and Manish Kaushik, who won bronze medal, in the recent boxing championship in Russia were trained by Kuttappa. He also holds pride in training famed boxer Vijendra Singh.
“For the very first time, India has won two medals in an international boxing event like Russian Boxing Championship. A total of 78 countries took part and India was ranked 6th,” Kuttappa, a former boxing champion, told The New Indian Express over phone.“India will definitely win many medals and carve a niche for itself in the Olympics.
Meanwhile, an international boxing championship will be held in India in 2021 and I am confident that we will excel in this championship. Rigorous training is going on to achieve this goal,” Kuttappa said.
The training for Olympic is going on and first round of selection will be held in China in February. “Training is being held for the first round in Ballari’s Jindal Centre,” he said.
The second selection round will be held in Paris in May and training will be held for this in Patiala.“The boxing scene in India is improving. Many championships are being held at national and international levels, which is a boon to the players. Also, boxing techniques have changed recently and this has resulted in brisk training,”opined Kutappa.