Indian boxers get tricky draw at London Olympics

Star Indian boxer Vijender Singh 75kg was handed out a tricky draw today as he starts his quest to better his Beijing Games bronze medal winning feat against Danabek Suzhanov of Kazakhstan in the men39s boxing competition at the London Olympics here tomorrow The Bhiwani boxer who put Indian boxing on world map after clinching the bronze in Beijing four years ago will have a tough task at hand as he aims for a medal of a different hue in his record third Olympic appearance The boxing competition which gets underway at the Excel Arena here will also see teen sensation Shiva Thapa 56 kg taking on Mexican boxer Oscar Valdez Fierro World Championship bronze medallist Vikas Krishan 69kg has been seeded third and he is also the only Indian boxer to get a bye Indiarsquos Londonbound Olympic boxers From left to right Jai Bhagwan Devendro Singh Sumit Sangwan back row Mary Kom Vijender Singh back row Shiva Thapa Manoj Kumar and Vikas Krishan Fivetime world champion MC Mary Kom 51kg will open her campaign against Polish boxer Karolina Michalczuk in women39s boxing which makes its Olympic debut on August 5 quotThe draw is tough in fact very tricky but we are keeping our fingers crossed because of the good forms of our boxersquot chief boxing coach G S Sandhu told PTI Vijender is a former world number one and a World Championship bronzemedallist while the 18yearold Shiva is the Asian Olympic Qualifiers39 goldmedallist and this duo carries a lot of expectations for medals An unprecedented eight Indian boxers seven men and for the first time a woman are in the British capital faced with skyhigh expectations India39s sole representative in women39s boxing Mary Kom is among the strongest medal contenders The fact that she has to win just two bouts to be assured of a medal only adds to the high expectations from her And she is not short of motivation either as the 29yearold could well bid adieu to the ring if she goes on to get a medal and cap a glittering career in which highs have far exceeded lows Among the men Vijender would also look to script history of his own by winning a medal in backtoback Olympics The pinup boy of Indian boxing came through an agonising qualification process during which he missed two chances before finally making the cut and he is determined to be remembered as the one who brought most medals rather than the one who made most appearances at the Olympics Besides Vijender there is Vikas a fellow Haryanvi who has already emulated his bronze at the World Championships The 19yearold who started in the 60kg division won an Asian Games gold medal 2010 before taking the massive risk of jumping two divisions with less than a year left for Olympics The gamble seems to have paid off as the former youth World Championships goldmedallist has made the transition effortlessly and the proof of that was a bronze at the senior World Championships last year Joining him will be L Devendro Singh 49kg The 20yearold Manipuri could well be the dark horse of the team as he made the Olympic cut at no less than the World Championships where he outpunched some strong rivals before eventually losing in the quarterfinals Another teen to watch out for is Sumit Sangwan 81kg who seems to have come from nowhere to displace the muchestablished Dinesh Kumar and make the light heavyweight division his own with a gold at the Asian Olympic qualifiers The 20yearold Haryanalad is a strong bet in a category in which India has never quite done well in the past Former Asian Championships silver medallist Jai Bhagwan 60 and 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Manoj Kumar 64kg are the seasoned campaigners in the group and the duo would look to make the most of their biggest break at the international levelu00a0