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  Rio Run-up: Boxer Vikas Krishan keen on medal in Olympic swansong

Rio Run-up: Boxer Vikas Krishan keen on medal in Olympic swansong

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : Jun 27, 2016, 11:53 pm IST
Updated : Jun 27, 2016, 11:53 pm IST

Vikas Krishan on Monday vowed not to leave any stone unturned in preparing for his last Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this August.

Vikas Krishan
 Vikas Krishan

Vikas Krishan on Monday vowed not to leave any stone unturned in preparing for his last Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this August. Vikas, one of three Indian boxers besides Shiva Thapa and Manoj Kumar to have qualified for the Games, said he has a bright chance of bagging a bronze at the Olympics.

“I’m determined to give my best at Rio as it is going to be my last Olympics,” Vikas said at an event here on Monday.

“I have a strong feeling that I can clinch bronze at the Rio Olympics. I will have to win two bouts to bag a bronze.

“I am hoping to get a favourable draw as my world ranking is decent and hopefully I won’t face tough boxers in my first two rounds,” the former Asian Games gold medallist said.

Vikas’ hopes transpire from the fact that he would be competing in the 75kg category, where recently-turned-pro Vijender Singh had claimed bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“Vijender won a bronze at the World Champion-ship and so did I, while he bagged a silver at Asian Championship and I also did the same,” he explained.

Vikas, who recently turned pro only to be eligible for the Aiba pro qualifiers, grabbed an Olympic berth with a bronze medal finish at the world qualifying tournament at Baku, Azerbaijan.

The 24-year-old, who sustained a cut during his quarter-final contest in Baku, said he would need a couple of days to recover before travelling to Venezuela on Thursday for a 10-day training stint.

“I won’t take part in competitions there due to some rules, but will be looking to catch hold of some sparring partners to practice for the Rio Games. Some of the best boxers are expected to be there,” said Vikas, whose training is taken care by the Government’s TOP scheme. At the London Olympics, eight boxers had qualified but the administrative mess in Indian boxing has led to only three pugilist booking berths for Rio.

“For the London Olympics, I had qualified some eight months prior to the Games but failed to win a medal there. This time there was a lot of tension as I had not qualified earlier, but that forced me to work very hard. I didn’t rest for a single day. And that reflected in my results at Baku.”

Talking about Rio, Vikas felt: “We have a small but a very good team. Both Shiva Thapa and Manoj Kumar are very good and capable of winning medals. In fact, those two can get gold.”

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi