THE STING’S GONE

Subhash Rajta

The sense of excitement and expectation that surrounded Indian boxing ahead of the 2012 London Games is largely missing this time around. The most obvious reason for the lesser adrenaline rush is the  difference between the number of boxers at the two Olympics — in London, India had eight boxers, seven male and one female; in Rio, the number has come down to a mere three, with just Shiva Thapa (56kg), Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Vikas Krishan Yadav (75kg) making the cut.

Even though the dip in the number is pretty startling — alarming, too, for it clearly shows which way our boxing is heading — it’s perhaps still not the main reason for concern, especially ahead of the Rio Games. The most worrisome part in the story of Indian boxing going wrong — which looked primed to break new ground and enjoy sustained success just four years back — is that the boxers no longer exude the confidence and optimism as they did after the 2008 Beijing Games, where Vijender Singh gave India its first Olympics medal in boxing, and ahead of the London Games.

The chaos that the Indian boxing federation slipped into after the London Games — the federation officials squabbled among themselves and things came to such a pass that the international parent boxy (AIBA) had to ban the Indian association (it still stands banned) — seems to have hit the morale of the boxers pretty hard.

Low morale

In the run-up to the Rio Olympics and long before, the boxers and coaches have been lamenting how the lack of an administrative set-up has affected the sport and their chances of winning medals at major tournaments. For instance, ahead of the last Olympics qualifier at Baku, where Vikas and Manoj made the cut, a few boxers said the absence of Indian officials (because of the ban) in the technical teams was hurting their chances.

And then, just a couple of days ago, chief national coach GS Sandhu, too, chose to speak at length about the issue. “There is no federation for such a long time, there’s nobody to look after us, pressure is just too high (for the boxers to perform),” he was quoted as saying by a news agency after returning from a training stint in England. “There’s no proper structure, no domestic competition, because of suspension we’ve nobody in the technical conduct. That’s hurting us, the boxers don’t see any of their own in the technical area and that affects their performance.”

With less than two weeks left for the Games, that’s hardly the kind of pep-talk one would want from a coach. Focusing and talking about pressure and problems is certainly not the best way to motivate the boxers, but he went on regardless. 

To be fair, the points he raised do matter to some extent. Yes, the reduction in exposure trips after the federation was banned must have hurt the boxers. Not holding the national championships in the last couple of years has hurt Indian boxing perhaps the most — the talent pool is slowly drying up and the fact that there’s no fresh face in the squad this time around reflects it.

Approach not right

Nonetheless, an excessive focus on problems, not opportunities, ahead of major tournaments indicates a defeatist mentality. It gives a sense that one is preparing grounds for possible setbacks. Akhil Kumar, a former Olympian, agrees. “I don’t buy this argument. How did our three boxers qualify if having a federation and our people in the technical teams is so important?” he asked. “And how many medals did we win before 2008 when the federation was there all the time?” A national-level coach, who did not wish to be identified, said the issue of the reduced exposure trips was overly exaggerated. “When it comes to the core group of boxers, it’s not much of an issue. They have been participating in almost all major tournaments and get several training stints,” he said. For Akhil, the suspension of the national championships, too, isn’t an issue that should bother the country’s elite boxers. “How can it possibly affect the top boxers? It has affected youth boxing, the supply line, their possible challengers, but not the top boxers.”

Get, set, go

Going into the Olympics, the best course of action for the boxers and the coach would be to shut out all problems from their mind and just focus on the job at hand. “The number of our boxers may be less this time but all three of them are good,” said Akhil. “All three were there in London , have won medals at major tournaments. So I guess we stand a good chance of winning a medal.”

Women missing

Mary Kom won India’s sole boxing medal at the London Olympics but she failed to qualify this time. And so did the other two contenders — Sarita Devi and Pooja Rani. India’s medal hopes would have increased manifold had any of them qualified as there are just 12 boxers in each weight category. But as women boxers failed to qualify, all hopes and eyes will be on Thapa, Manoj and Krishan.

Shiva Thapa 

Bantamweight (56kg)

Born: 8 December 1993 (22)

Birthplace: Guwahati

Achievements:Bronze 

Doha World Championships 2015; Silver Singapore Youth Olympic Games 2010

Vikas Krishan

Middleweight (75kg)

Born: 10 February 1992 (24)

Birthplace: Singhwa Khas, Hisar

Achievements: Bronze Incheon Asian Games 2014; Baku World Championships 2011  |  Gold Guangzhou Asian Games 2010; Tehran Asian Youth Championships 2010  |  Silver Bangkok Asian Championships 2015

Boxing at Rio

Number of Gold medals 13

10 men

3 women

Event Dates

August 6 to 21 

Indian angle

India will have only three boxers competing at Rio — Shiva Thapa (Bantamweight, ie 56kg), Manoj Kumar (Light welterweight, 64kg) and Vikas Krishan Yadav (Middleweight, 75kg). This is a huge drop from London 2012, when seven Indian male boxers and one woman boxer were in the fray. No woman boxer will represent India at Rio — even Mary Kom could not qualify.

Schedule

Shiva Thapa: His first bout will be on Aug 10 or 11, and depending on his progress, he could box in the next rounds on Aug 14, Aug 16, Aug 18 and Aug 20

Manoj Kumar: His first bout will be on Aug 10 or 11, and depending on his progress, he also could compete further on Aug 14, Aug 16, Aug 18 and Aug 20

Vikas Krishan: His first bout will be on Aug 8 or 9, and depending on his progress, he could box in the next rounds on Aug 12, Aug 15, Aug 18 and Aug 20

Format

• Excepting first-round byes, each boxer must win five bouts to win gold. Both losing semifinalists receive bronze medals.
• This is the first time that professional boxers will be allowed to compete at the Olympics. Male boxers will compete without headguards at  the Olympics for the first time since 1980.

Favourites

Cuba and USA have been traditionally the strongest boxing nations. USA have won 111 medals in the Olympics, comprising 50 gold, 23 silver and 38 bronze. Cuba have won 67 Olympics medals, including 34 gold and 19 silver. In the recent Games, the dominance of  these two has been on the wane. 

In London 2012, hosts Great Britain topped the medals table with five medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze), followed by Ukraine (5 medals) and Cuba (4 medals). USA won only two medals in 2012, a gold and a bronze.

In Beijing 2008, hosts China won four medals (including 2 gold), followed by Russia (3, with 2 gold) and Italy (3, with 1 gold). Cuba won 8 medals, but no gold, while USA won just one bronze.

In World Championship 2015, Cuba showed signs of a resurgence, topping the table with 7 medals, including 4 gold. Russia were second with 4 medals (2 gold).

In World Championship 2013, Kazakhstan won the maximum 8 medals (4 gold), while Cuba were second with 5 (2 gold).

The Greats

Only three boxers have won three gold medals in the Olympics — Teofilo Stevenson (in pic) and Felix Savon of Cuba, and Lazlo Papp of Hungary.