Ace Indian pugilist Vijender Singh created history back in 2008 when he won a bronze medal in Beijing Olympics. The medal actually gave the game a mileage in the country and helped bringing India on World boxing map. 

And this time around, he is again on the course to Olympics scheduled to be held in London later this month.

When Vijender punched out Chuluuntumur Tumurkhuyag to reach the semis of Asian Olympic qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan and sealed the London Olympics spot, he became the first Indian boxer to qualify for Olympics the third consecutive times. Lot was at stake for him before going to Astana as it was his last chance to qualify for the “mother of all events” Olympics.

But he did not disappoint and went on to deliver the sucker punch, which has now the shrugged all the critics of his back who thought he was done after his World Championships loss last year. But he kept his cool and let his game do the talking. Vijender, 26, a former World Number one boxer, has now joined the bandwagon of four other boxers who have already qualified for the London Olympics and going by his stature, he looks the best bet for Indian boxing contingent at the London Olympics.

Here is a look as to why he is the best bet:

Experience: Last time when he went for the qualification, it was at the same place and also was the last qualifying event. Vijender still an unknown entity then, qualified by winning the gold and later went on to win the bronze in the Olympics. This time his qualification looked almost certain and his chances at London looks brighter considering his experience at the highest stage. He has won almost medals at almost at all the top flight competition, including World Championships, Olympics, Asian Games amongst others.

Resiliency: His resiliency is worth praising. 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 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.

Confidence: His confidence 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 character, he hardly does disappoint.

Ability to perform at big stages: Vijender over and over again has proved it for the country that he knows what it takes to win at the World stage. Be it Olympics, Asian Games or any other international tournaments, he has seen it all performed well on each platform.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury
Indian Sports News Network