New Delhi: India’s leading medal hope, boxer Vijender Singh said that there wasn’t much pressure on him and his other mates in boxing ahead of the Games in Delhi. He said they have prepared well for this and are hoping to do really well in their respective bouts.

“We are really not under pressure. We are totally confident of doing well. It’s just that we want to do really good in front of the home crowd and not disappoint them. We have prepared well for the competition and it’s time to deliver the punches at the right place,” said the Olympic bronze medal winner at Beijing in 2008.
Vijender said he is enjoying the facilities and the frolic at the Village.

“It’s such a good atmosphere here at the Village. This place is buzzing with athletes and I am really enjoying each bit of being a part of this grand event.” 

The pugilist was all praises for the organizers and said that though things took time to get settled, finally the entire wait was worth it because of all what has been presented to them.

“Good things take time to be delivered. Yes they took time but let’s look at the positives out of it. We have such a magnificent village and facilities out here,” said Vijender.

Akhil Kumar, who was the only Indian boxer to win a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, looked optimistic about the boxing team chances and said they will surely do much better than the previous occasions.

“Indian boxing team will improve upon their performance of 2006 Commonwealth Games. You all can expect a surge in the medal tally this time. It will definitely be more than one gold medal that I won in the last edition,” said Akhil.
When asked how he feels having made the cut considering he was injured not long back, Akhil sounded all positive saying he has always come back hard post injuries and the same could be expected this time around.

“Throughout my career so far I have always given better performance after injuries. To remind you all, I went to the Olympic qualifiers straight after my wrist surgery and qualified for the Beijing Olympics after defeating some of the bets boxers in the arena, including Athens Olympics silver medalist,” said the boxer.

“Then again I had to have a surgery and competed in the Olympics without any competitive matches. There also I defeated the world champion on my way to the quarterfinals. So getting into the competitive mode after injury isn’t a problem for me,” Akhil continued.

It seems the Indian boxers are ready for the world stage and considering the confidence they look to be in, Indians can rest assured their representatives will surely strike a good punch.

Rohit Sakunia
Indian Sports News