CHENNAI: Vikas Krishan has been a regular in the boxing circuit for over a decade or so. The battle-hardened pugilist from Haryana has endured nasty cuts, bruises along the way but that has not diminished his love for the sport. Far from it. Away from the amateur circuit since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Vikas is back in the Indian camp. At 31, what drives him to soldier on is his ambition to win that elusive Olympic medal (only big medal that is missing from his rich CV).
With that long-term objective in mind, Vikas was recently part of the selection trials which was held in Patiala. The former World Championships medallist aced the trials and is now in with a shout to get one step closer to his dream, something that he has been unable to fulfil in three attempts (2012, 2016 and 2020) so far. The trials were conducted for the inclusion of boxers in the national coaching camp in Olympic weight categories (51kg, 57kg, 63.5kg, 71kg, 80kg, 92kg, +92kg) recently at NSNIS, Patiala. Vikas is pleased to get past the first hurdle.
"It is satisfying. I was up against some good boxers. It had been quite a long time since I had a competitive fight. I haven't fought since the Olympics. If I had a couple of competitions before the trials, I could have done even better," Vikas, who competed in the 80kg category, noted.
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Being part of the national camp, which is likely to begin from June 16, means Vikas and the rest of the participants stand a chance to earn a spot in the team for the upcoming Asian Games, where Olympic quotas will be on offer. During the camp, the coaching staff will be assessing all the boxers closely and will be picking a team based on their output. The current BFI selection policy is new for Vikas, but he's not fussed about it.
"It really doesn't matter much, be it trials or assessment camp. If you are good, you're bound to get the nod. The high performance director (HPD) is a former world champ and I think the selection process he has opted for is the correct one. Even with the trials, we were not getting the medals in the Olympics in the past...this change was necessary I guess. Let's see how this goes. The men's team won three medals during the World Championships, so he's already making a difference."
Just a year or so ago, Vikas had faced a tough bout off the ring. Soon after the Tokyo Olympics, he underwent surgery to fix his injured shoulder. The rehabilitation phase was a daily struggle as he was itching to return to the ring. Soon after recovering, the former Asian Games winner had gone to the USA late last year before returning to train with Jagdish Singh, a renowned coach who has nurtured many champion boxers. "I was with Ronald Simms (former JSW Sports coach). I had good sparring sessions with some strong boxers there. The boxers are known to be mentally tough there. If you train with strong boxers, you are bound to get stronger as well. I feel strong," Vikas said, when asked about his USA stint.
Even though the USA trip was a valuable one, he had to rearrange his style of boxing once he returned to India. "I have been training under Jagdish Singh. I had acquired the habit of professional boxing so under Jagdish (sir), I had to recalibrate and get back to the amateur style of boxing. The next target is to win the Asian Games and qualify for the Olympics."
The other boxers who'll be competing for a ticket to Asiad are Tokyo Olympian Ashish Kumar, who was exempted from trials, and Services' Lakshay Chahar. Vikas likes his odds of going on to dominate and make the cut. Even though he's making a comeback, his confidence is not misplaced as he has predominantly been the No 1 choice in most major competitions while being part of the camp. "It is not about arrogance. I don't think I have any threat here," Vikas declared.