Vijender Singh is synonymous to Indian boxing, the ace Indian pugilist Vijender Singh created history by winning the bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and thus becoming the first boxer to win a medal in Olympics for India.
Since then, boxing as a sport has grown in stature in the country and the boxing team looks better and stronger. This time seven Indian boxers will compete in the toughest sporting event of this planet and the credit for the rise in sport definitely goes to the Bhiwani lad.
Vijender himself believes that the Olympic medal has had a massive affect on the game; he said that the medal was a big change, for him, the sport and the countries outlook towards the sport. It was the first medal in boxing and our country really needed something of that sort for the sport.
On the affect that the medal had on the boxers he said that the approach of the boxers has changed after that and everyone has started to believe that they can compete at such high level and belief is what makes all the difference.
But Beijing Olympic is history now and it is the upcoming London Olympics that the boxer is concentrating on. India’s chances in this Olympics are good and the maximum hopes are from our boxing team.
It is sure that Vijender will have the extra responsibility of leading the team because he has been there and done that. Vijender is the first Indian boxer to make it to three Olympics and is the senior most member of the team. Having said that Vijender has all the ingredients to repeat what he did in Beijing.
He is very experienced, last time when he participated he still was an unknown entity then and qualified by winning the gold and later went on to win the bronze in the Olympics.
But this time things will be a lot different because people know him and his opponent will be aware of the danger he possesses.
One more thing about Vijender which is commendable is his resiliency. Critics were sure that his career was over after he could not win a medal at the Commonwealth Games, but he soon complemented for the loss with a gold at the Asian Games at Guangzhou, China.
All of a sudden disaster struck again and he lost at the World Championship. Critics started doing the rounds again and he did shut them by qualifying for the Olympics for the third consecutive time.
Vijender is also a very confident man and that does reflect on his face and it is this confidence that has helped him excel at the highest stage. He seldom does get bogged down by pressure and knows the act of handling very well. Pressure has never got better of him and he is one boxer on which the whole country would bank and going by his past records, he hardly does disappoint.
Vijender on his training ahead of the Olympics said that things are looking good and he is happy with his preparation. He is working on endurance and speed and is confident going into the tournament.
The man who has paved the way for future generations and gave Indian pugilists the impetus and belief of making it big at the global arena is carrying the hopes of millions and going by what he has achieved in the past it does look that he will not disappoint his fans.
By Indian Sports News Network
