ID :
42616
Sun, 01/25/2009 - 21:03
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/42616
The shortlink copeid
Indian boxers were surprise package of 2008: AIBA Prez
Poonam Mehra
New Delhi, Jan 25 (PTI) Indian pugilists were the
"surprise package" of the year gone by, says International
Boxing Association (AIBA) President Ching-Kuo Wu who foresees
them giving Cuba and Russia a serious run for their money in
the lighter weight divisions.
"I believe India obviously proved to all parties that
they were the surprise package of the year and this bodes
well, not only for Indian boxing but international boxing all
round," Wu told PTI from AIBA headquarters in Lausanne,
Switzerland.
"If India shows the same amount of progress they have
shown in the past few years and continues to develop there is
no reason why it can not push the stronger nations,
particularly in the lighter weight divisions," he added.
The AIBA chief took the occasion to laud the likes of
Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh (75kg) and World Cup
bronze winners Akhil Kumar (54kg) and Jitender Kumar (51kg)
and four-time women's world champion M C Mary Kom.
Wu said Indian boxing has to build on last year's success
and start giving good results in the heavier categories (light
heavy 81kg onwards) as well to be counted among the best in
the world.
"...despite India's rapid rise in recent years, one has
to keep in mind that the strongest nations in the world of
boxing have strength and depth across all weight divisions and
this is an incredible achievement and not to be taken
lightly," he explained.
"While India is certainly producing excellent results,
there is still a lot of work to do, especially in the heavier
weight divisions but these sort of challenges are the reason
why we participate in sport," he pointed out.
Vijender's bronze in Beijing opened the country's Olympic
account in boxing last year and as they start gearing up for
London 2012, Wu said Indian boxers have shown the potential
but it is too early to say exactly how well they would do.
"The AIBA World Championships aside, the Olympic Games is
the toughest boxing competition in the world...it is so
difficult to predict who is the best prepared, who is in the
best state of mind and consequently who will win an Olympic
medal? Who would have thought that Cuba would have failed to
stand on the top dais last year in Beijing?
"Boxing is one of the sports where two athletes enter the
ring with a clean slate -- all history is forgotten -- and
this is what adds to its appeal. While we all hope India, like
all nations, compete successfully in London, there is a long
way to go between now and then so it is very hard to predict
their future Olympic results. In saying that, with the current
coaching structure obtaining such impressive results, there is
no reason why they cannot improve," he said.
AIBA is all set to unveil an inter-continental World
Series of Boxing next year to be competed in the format of
five rounds of three minutes each.
The idea was discussed at a meeting in China a couple of
weeks ago and Wu said a concrete plan would come up after
AIBA's Executive Committee meet next month.
"An AIBA Executive Committee meeting will take place in
Milan, Italy from February 16-18 at which time we will be
announcing more news on this exciting new project," he said.
PTI
New Delhi, Jan 25 (PTI) Indian pugilists were the
"surprise package" of the year gone by, says International
Boxing Association (AIBA) President Ching-Kuo Wu who foresees
them giving Cuba and Russia a serious run for their money in
the lighter weight divisions.
"I believe India obviously proved to all parties that
they were the surprise package of the year and this bodes
well, not only for Indian boxing but international boxing all
round," Wu told PTI from AIBA headquarters in Lausanne,
Switzerland.
"If India shows the same amount of progress they have
shown in the past few years and continues to develop there is
no reason why it can not push the stronger nations,
particularly in the lighter weight divisions," he added.
The AIBA chief took the occasion to laud the likes of
Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh (75kg) and World Cup
bronze winners Akhil Kumar (54kg) and Jitender Kumar (51kg)
and four-time women's world champion M C Mary Kom.
Wu said Indian boxing has to build on last year's success
and start giving good results in the heavier categories (light
heavy 81kg onwards) as well to be counted among the best in
the world.
"...despite India's rapid rise in recent years, one has
to keep in mind that the strongest nations in the world of
boxing have strength and depth across all weight divisions and
this is an incredible achievement and not to be taken
lightly," he explained.
"While India is certainly producing excellent results,
there is still a lot of work to do, especially in the heavier
weight divisions but these sort of challenges are the reason
why we participate in sport," he pointed out.
Vijender's bronze in Beijing opened the country's Olympic
account in boxing last year and as they start gearing up for
London 2012, Wu said Indian boxers have shown the potential
but it is too early to say exactly how well they would do.
"The AIBA World Championships aside, the Olympic Games is
the toughest boxing competition in the world...it is so
difficult to predict who is the best prepared, who is in the
best state of mind and consequently who will win an Olympic
medal? Who would have thought that Cuba would have failed to
stand on the top dais last year in Beijing?
"Boxing is one of the sports where two athletes enter the
ring with a clean slate -- all history is forgotten -- and
this is what adds to its appeal. While we all hope India, like
all nations, compete successfully in London, there is a long
way to go between now and then so it is very hard to predict
their future Olympic results. In saying that, with the current
coaching structure obtaining such impressive results, there is
no reason why they cannot improve," he said.
AIBA is all set to unveil an inter-continental World
Series of Boxing next year to be competed in the format of
five rounds of three minutes each.
The idea was discussed at a meeting in China a couple of
weeks ago and Wu said a concrete plan would come up after
AIBA's Executive Committee meet next month.
"An AIBA Executive Committee meeting will take place in
Milan, Italy from February 16-18 at which time we will be
announcing more news on this exciting new project," he said.
PTI
