New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI) Indian boxing’s interim committee chief Ajay Singh on Thursday said he has “requested” Olympic medallist pugilist Vijender Singh to lend his expertise by overseeing “some training camps” and offering suggestions for improvement.
Vijender, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, remains India’s only male boxer to have finished on the podium at the Olympics.
“Vijender is quite involved with the activities. Of course, he is a huge inspiration for boxers. But we also want to use his skills and his expertise to oversee some of our training processes and give us some suggestions on how to improve,” Singh told reporters.
“Because you know, many times boxers have the skill but it becomes a mindset issue,” he added.
The boxer-turned-politician has also plied his trade in the professional circuit, but hasn’t competed there since 2022. Singh added that Vijender’s involvement is in its early stages.
“He is just starting now and I have requested him to oversee some of the training camps and come back to us with suggestions on how we can improve training,” Singh said.
Indian boxers endured a disappointing campaign at the Paris Olympics, returning empty-handed after a qualification phase that saw only six of them make the cut.
Currently, Dharmendra Yadav is coaching the senior men’s team, while D. Chandralal is in charge of the elite women’s squad.
BFI elections will be held by Aug 31 deadline ============================= Singh reiterated that the much-delayed Boxing Federation of India (BFI) elections will be conducted before the August 31 deadline set by the sport’s world governing body.
“BFI elections will be held in the month of August. We did start the process of elections in March. But it was held up to various litigation,” Singh, who is eyeing a third consecutive term as BFI president, said.
“The world body subsequently created an interim body, which has been asked to conduct elections. So the elections will be held towards the end of the month, maybe 27th or 28th.” The tenure of the previous BFI office-bearers ended on February 2. Elections were originally scheduled for March 28 but were stalled following legal disputes and a series of appeals and counter-appeals.
Looking at various venues for World Boxing Cup Final ================================= India will host the World Boxing Cup Final in November, but the venue is still being finalised.
While New Delhi, which has hosted the Women’s World Championships thrice, was initially considered the frontrunner, other state associations have also expressed interest.
“We have to select the location. The World Boxing team will be coming also to see. Initially, our thought was to host the championship in Delhi. (But) some other states have requested that we should consider. So we will see,” Singh said.
Meanwhile, the BFI announced a prize purse of Rs 17.5 lakh for the 17 Indian medal winners from the recent World Boxing Cup legs in Brazil and Kazakhstan.
Gold medallists will receive Rs 2 lakh each, silver winners Rs 1 lakh, and bronze medallists Rs 50,000.
India-China set to build strategic boxing ties ============================= Singh revealed that China has expressed interest in forming a strategic partnership with India in boxing, which will include bilateral training camps.
“So China has approached us. I think, given India’s importance in the world of boxing and the quality of Indian boxers, many countries are approaching us and saying that ‘can we have practice sessions with you, training camps with you, etc’,” Singh said.
He confirmed that the Indian junior boxing team will travel to China for a training camp ahead of the Asian Championships.
“So we think that the China camp, China relationship is a useful one. Because both teams are quite strong. And our boxers will get very good exposure. So we are starting with our juniors going to China for a camp before the Asian Championship,” he added. PTI APA APA AH AH
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