NEW DELHI: It’s not everyday that Indian boxing finds itself bracketed with a powerhouse like Kazakhstan but that’s exactly what has happened at the ongoing Asian Games. What is not particularly pleasing is the stat which binds the two countries in Jakarta.
Both India and Kazakhstan have just two semifinalists in the men’s draw and no challenge left in the women’s competition at the end of the quarterfinal stage. “Obviously we wanted more, two medals is less than what we had targetted. But I would like to believe it is just one blip.
We have equalled the last time’s performance in terms of number of medals and hopefully a better colour would be coming along to make the overall show better,” Indian boxing’s High Performance Director Santiago Nieva told PTI from Jakarta. Kazakhstan topped the boxing medals tally at the 2014 Games with six gold, two silver and two bronze medals, making the ongoing edition nothing short of a disaster for them. It’s a dip that India can probably relate to given that the country went from two gold, three silver and four bronze in Guangzhou 2010 to a mere two bronze at Incheon 2014 for men.India has managed to match the 2014 haul for men with two semifinalists. And it might get better if the seasoned Vikas Krishan Amit Panghal make the finalson Friday. (PTI)
