Indian boxers closing on traditional powerhouses, claims High-Performance Director Santiago Nieva
Indian boxers’ unparalleled performance at the just-concluded men’s world championship shows they are “closing in” on traditional powerhouses, High-Performance Director Santiago Nieva has asserted. According to Nieva, “clean punching” is what worked out well for the Indian boxers.
India recorded its best-ever finish at the World Boxing Championships in Ekaterinburg, Russia by claiming a silver and a bronze through Amit Panghal (52kg) and Manish Kaushik (63kg) respectively. Indian boxers' unparalleled performance shows they are “closing in” on traditional powerhouses such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, High-Performance Director Santiago Nieva has asserted. Before this, the country had never won more than one bronze in a single edition of the marquee event.
“We have done what we came for. We won medals, performed better than last time. The targets were achieved,” said Nieva to the PTI. “Countries like China and Azerbaijan, which are good, are going back without a medal while we have improved our tally, it has significance. We can be proud.”
“I was expecting a determined show but to tell you frankly, I am surprised at the intensity. Our expectations have not just been met but surpassed,” added national coach CA Kuttappa.
India was among nine countries that had a finalist in the tournament, out of a total of 78 participating countries. The country was tied with England and the United States of America in having one finalist in the mega event, the Kazakhs and the Cubans had two, while the Uzbeks topped with four in the summit clashes.
India had four boxers in the quarterfinals, two of them losing intense contests. Nieva claimed he is confident of India performing even better when the showpiece event takes place in Delhi in 2021.
The diminutive Panghal defeated a Kazakh, Saken Bibossinov, en route the finals before going to Uzbekistan’s Olympic champion Shakhobidin Zoirov, who beat the Indian 5-0 in the final
“Amit always fights bigger and stronger boxers but never seems fazed. They find it hard to figure him out. He is very deceptive,” Nieva added.
Nieva said, “clean punching” is what worked out well for the Indian boxers this time out. According to him, the boxers are responding well to the instructions of keeping every hit clean.
The Argentina-born Swede, who has been with the team since 2017, also praised debutant Sanjeet (91kg) and Asian silver-medallist Kavinder Singh Bisht (57kg). The two produced some gutsy performances but finished as quarter-finalists.
Bisht, in fact, fought with a cut above his right eye in the quarterfinals but did not look perturbed against Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Peter McGrail of England.
“They showed big hearts. They were unfazed by the stature of their rivals and that’s what is very important. You respect your rival but don’t get intimidated by his CV,” Nieva said.
“Indian boxers are fearless in that sense. We are also working on ensuring control. It is important to be fearless but it is equally important to take a step back when the situation demands. These are aspects that we are building on to strike the right balance,” he further added.
