Have to work on domestic talents to create bigger talent pool, says BFI chief Ajay Singh
Boxing Federation of India chief Ajay Singh has heaped praise on the boxers doing great on the international stage but has also stressed upon the immediate need to improve domestic players and improve the talent pool. Singh also hoped the dispute between AIBA and IOC gets solved as soon as possible.
India amateur boxing has grown leaps and bounds over the last few years with some talented pugilists emerging. However, BFI chief Ajay Singh, although happy with the senior boxers, has called for more focus on the domestic talents of the country.
He also revealed that the federation has asked YMCA to organize tournaments at the state level to make the foundation stronger. "We have to work a lot at the domestic level to strengthen it as we need to create a bigger pool of players. At the international level, we are playing a number of tournaments," said Singh, reported IANS.
"We are giving plenty of chances to them at the international level but there is a need to work at national and state level. We are also organising national championship but it's time to work at the local level. We have talked to YMCA, which used to organise a championship and are trying to resume it. I feel we should organise open tournaments in every state as it will provide us with more great talents. We will try to boost local championship and so, I said a lot still needs to be done," he added.
The 20-member Indian boxing contingent had a brilliant outing at the recently-concluded Asian Championship in Bangkok, where the boxers bagged as many as 13 medals - two gold, four silver and seven bronze medals. India had sent a 20-member contingent to the championship.
And while Singh was happy about the achievement, he also warned his boxers not to be complacent with the accolades. "It was a historic show at the championship. I am happy that we won 13 medals but at the same time I feel the journey ahead will be a difficult one as several big tournaments are lying in the near future.
“We don't need to sit back and relax and should try that our graph keeps getting better. Our boxers did very well but they need to keep the momentum going," he said.
Ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the biggest news has been the rift between the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) concerning Gafur Rakhimov, which has kept the inclusion of boxing in the Olympic Games very uncertain.
Hoping things get solved fast, Singh stated that BFI gave its opinion to AIBA on the matter and would be hoping total transparency in solving such issues.
"I hope the dispute gets over as soon as possible. We all want boxing to be a clean game and whatever happened in the past, shouldn't happen again. AIBA is also trying these issues don't get repeated and there should be transparency.
“We all are working closely and BFI has also given its views. India has a strong presence in world boxing and so they (AIBA) regularly discuss with us everything. I just want their (AIBA and IOC) relation gets stronger and better," he concluded.
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