CHENNAI: The last few days turned out to be a rude awakening for Indian boxers. This could even be considered as one of the forgettable performances in Indian boxing at an Olympic Games qualifying event. With just 135 days left for the marquee event to begin, this is definitely not healthy for a sport that boasts of three Olympic medals including Vijender Singh's 2008 bronze.
As many as nine boxers returned empty-handed from the just-concluded World Olympic Qualifier at Busto Arsizio, Italy. The men boxers from the country are yet to win a single quota for the country. What’s more concerning is that most pugilists didn’t even come close to challenging for the quotas.
This will reflect poorly on the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and its Long Term Development plan. With quotas on the line in Italy, a total of 598 boxers had entered the event and the competition was expected to be tough. Barring Nishant Dev, who just missed out on the quota after reaching the quarterfinals, all the other participants from the country lost their very first bouts.
This has not gone down well with certain sections of the BFI. Rajesh Bhandari, the current vice president of BFI, was not amused. The former secretary of the boxing federation (Indian Amateur Boxing Association) said this performance has upset the entire community. “We are not satisfied with the performance of the boxers,” he told this daily. “We have asked the president and the secretary to call for an urgent meeting where we will discuss this failure of our boxers. It’s really a sad day for boxing.”
The veteran sports administrator, during whose tenure women’s national was introduced, said there should be a total evaluation. “We have to take stock of the situation and take corrective measures right now,” he said, adding that all issues pertaining to change in coaches and support staff also will be taken up.
There have been major changes in the coaches' department in the last year or so. There seems to be a dearth of quality on the bench. This also puts a cloud on the process of the BFI. Given the fact that boxers had been selected after a thorough selection process which included an evaluation process in the build-up to the competition, this setback is a massive blow.
The first step towards selection was the national championships in Shillong late last year and the gap between the best and the rest was obvious. “Barring a few weight categories, the eventual winners put up comprehensive wins,” one of the coaches had observed then.
Unhappy times
After naming the team, the boxers had also been part of the training camp at Budva, Montenegro just from February 14 to 28. Two-time Olympian Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), despite his years of experience, was forced to yield in the very first round. Narender (+92kg), who had just missed out on a quota in the Asian Games, suffered a similar fate. Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg), who was making a comeback after injury last year, also stood helpless as the Indians fell by the wayside, one after another.
All the parties — boxers, coaches and officials involved in making key decisions — won’t have much time to reflect on this latest disaster. It goes without saying they have tough days ahead as they race against time to pull off an improved performance in the last World Qualification Tournament, which is scheduled to be held in Bangkok from May 23 to June 3. In the previous Olympic qualifiers (Asian Games), India had won four quotas (all women).