Of the many tales that 1982 Delhi Asian Games gold medallist Kaur Singh has to tell,the one from right after the 1971 Indo-Pak war is the most intriguing. Kaur had been awarded the Sangram medal by the Sikh Regiment in the war and was returning home when he met an Army boxer on the train. What followed was a three-hour conversation about the sport and on the trip back to his battalion,Kaur had made up his mind to give boxing a try. In the 70s and early 80s,the sport was dominated by boxers from the armed forces. In my case,it was more of inquisitiveness that landed me into the sport. But for youngsters of that era,boxing meant a job with the army and it was only later that the sport became a passion for them, remembers Kaur,who is the only Indian boxer to have followed his Asian Championship gold performance with another gold in the Asian Games in the same year. Two of the Indian boxers who won medals in the recently concluded Asian Championships belong to the armed forces and Kaur is sure the game will see more popularity in the coming years. It is very important to have role models in a sport. We always looked upon the likes of Hawa Singh and Mehtab Singh. But after 1982 came the lull in our performance in Asian Games. It is good to see an Indian boxer winning at the Beijing Olympics and at the Asian level, Kaur says. Kaur was already 30 when he made his national debut in 1979,but followed it up with five consecutive national titles. Most of the boxers in our time competed in heavyweight categories since they came from the army,which meant more concentration on power. But I am happy to see our performances in the lighter weight categories over the last few decades. The fact that boxers are getting onto the international stage before turning 20 implies that our bench strength and technical basics are strong, says Kaur,who is now a coach with Punjab Police in Jalandhar.
