Eyeing an Olympic spot,Samota goes a level down

During the semi-finals at last years Asian Games,when Paramjeet Samota lost to Zhilei Zhang of China,the Haryana boxer drew praise from his coaches and fellow team mates for his performance against a much-heavier opponent.

During the semi-finals at last years Asian Games,when Paramjeet Samota lost to Zhilei Zhang of China (weighing 120kg),the Haryana boxer drew praise from his coaches and fellow team mates for his performance against a much-heavier opponent.

But now,after three international gold medals in the super-heavyweight category (+91kg),Samota has decided to step down a level to heavyweight category,which will put him against the likes of Asian Games silver medalist Manpreet Singh.

Yes,I have decided to participate in the heavyweight category. It was becoming difficult for me to adjust my game in the super-heavyweight category as I needed to add more weight to face my competitors.

It is an important year as there will be Olympic qualifiers and I want to be 100 per cent sure of my chance of qualifying for 2012. I consulted with my coaches and then decided to give it a go, said Samota,who won a Commonwealth Games gold and Asian Games bronze in the +91kg category.

Its not a new experience for Samota,however. The 23-year-old started his career at the junior level with a gold at the Bosnia Cup in 91kg category in 2005 and a silver at the Junior Asian Championship the following year,before shifting to the +91kg category in 2007. Samota has been considering moving down a level for some time but did not do so on the insistence of coach BI Fernandez.

Fernandez was very happy when I won the gold in Belgrade. It was Indias first ever gold in the super heavy category in that tournament. But I had already made up my mind and have been training accordingly for the past one month. I hope the Cuba tour will prove good for me.

Manpreet has been doing well too and it will be a tough competition for a spot in the Indian side, Samota said.

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Though the Indian Boxing Federation list for Cuba names Samota and Asian Games gold medalist Vikas Krishan in the +91kg and 60kg categories,the boxers confirmed they will be playing in 91kg and 69kg categories respectively.

It is becoming difficult for me to maintain the weight,so I will be moving to 69kg, said Vikas,who had to be hospitalised last month due to dehydration,trying to lose weight for a tournament in the 60kg category.

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Eyeing an Olympic spot,Samota goes a level down

During the semi-finals at last years Asian Games,when Paramjeet Samota lost to Zhilei Zhang of China,the Haryana boxer drew praise from his coaches and fellow team mates for his performance against a much-heavier opponent.

During the semi-finals at last years Asian Games,when Paramjeet Samota lost to Zhilei Zhang of China,the Haryana boxer drew praise from his coaches and fellow team mates for his performance against a much-heavier opponent.