oach Jaidev Bisht stayed back and would leave on the night of August 29 after receiving the Khel Ratna and the Dronacharya award respectively from the President. The World Championships is going to be tougher than the Olympics. But this is as strong a team as can be prepared and hopefully it would deliver, said chief Gurbax Singh Sandhu ahead of the teams departure. Indian Boxing Federation Secretary General P K Muralidharan Raja said the other motivation for the Indian pugilists would be the presence of World Series of Boxing (WSB) franchisees. WSB franchisees will also be there to pick their boxers and hopefully our boys would be able to impress them, Raja said. India has never won a medal at the event with the best being quarterfinal appearances by the likes of Olympian A L Lakra,who was the only one to make the last-eight stage in the previous edition of the championships in Chicago a couple of years ago. The expectations are going to be sky high after the way Indian boxers have performed in the past two years,especially the Beijing Olympics, admitted Vijender,who goes into the tournament as world number two. The pressure would be there but we can cope with it, he added. Akhil Kumar,who missed the event in 2007 is all set for his official debut in the featherweight (57kg) division but far from being nervous,he exuded confidence of making a mark. I am completely fit and though it would be the first time I compete in the feather weight division,I am sure that I can do well, he said. The championships feature 750 pugilists and it would take at least four bouts before a boxer gets to the medal round. It is going to be really tough. Three rounds of three minutes each which tests endurance,add to this the European scoring system,in which judges dont give points unless the punch is hard enough to cause a thud. It will be quite a challenge, Akhil said. 18-year-old T Nanao Singh,a world youth champion,who won a silver medal in his very first senior event - the Asian Championships in China - is confident that he would end Indias medal drought at the event. I have won a medal in every international competition that I have competed in and I am sure I can keep the record intact, he said.
