Boxers hope peak will last till games

Fate and an ability with their fists have thrown them together on the flight to Athens. Jitender Kumar, Akhil Kumar, Vijender Singh and Diwa...

Fate and an ability with their fists have thrown them together on the flight to Athens. Jitender Kumar, Akhil Kumar, Vijender Singh and Diwakar Prasad are sweating it out across the rings in Delhi right now, waiting for the Olympics to start, when they can show the world exactly what they are made of.

Vijender 64 kg is pretty much the focal point for the other three. Not yet 19, he8217;s six-foot-plus, lean and sinewy, apparently arrogant but reticent when spoken to. The baby of the team is, however, a confident lad after winning bronze at the Pre-Olympic meet in Athens last month.

It8217;s tough to get him to say anything but, stitched together, this is his sum of his monosyllabic answers: 8216;8216;The Athens bronze has given me confidence. The training is also going well with the Cuban coach B I Fernandez working with our coach G S Sandhu. If the draw is good and if luck is with me, I should be able to get a medal.8217;8217;

Though Fernandez claims that Vijender8217;s problem areas 8212; counter-punching and getting fazed when cornered 8212; are disappearing, his Athens bronze doesn8217;t offer reason for hope. Simply because the meet didn8217;t feature all boxers who qualified for Athens.

On the evidence of their training sessions here in Delhi, it does appear that most of the boxers are better prepared than usual. Jitender, who8217;s been there, done that at Sydney in 2000, suggests, 8216;8216;It8217;s good that the Olympics are starting soon. Because we are at our peak right now and it8217;s best that we go to Athens in this form. Right now, if you ask me, I feel I can beat anyone.8217;8217;

The fun part of the quartet is that they are all very different from each other, but seem to share an unexplained bond right now. Jitender does most of the binding, as Diwakar says: 8216;8216;It8217;s good to have someone senior like him Jitender, because he has been to the Olympics and has 10 years8217; experience. He looks after all our needs and brings it up with the coaches. Plus he observes us and points out mistakes we commit from time to time.8217;8217;

Akhil, on the other hand, is the streetfighter; brash, aggressive, not too taken by the lessons 8212; 8216;8216;lie down and stare at the ceiling8217;8217; 8212; the team psychologists have been handing out. 8216;8216;My job is to punch,8217;8217; he says, 8216;8216;and I think I am ready for Athens.8217;8217;

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All things said and done though, Akhil 51-kg and Vijender appear best placed for the podium. Despite his experience, Jitender 81-kg might find the going tough. As for Diwakar 54-kg, though consistent, his run will depend almost entirely on his draw.