As the Indian squad leaves to take part in the 41st edition of Giraldo Córdova Cardin,an international boxing tournament in Havana,it will be without Olympic medallist Vijender Singh and Akhil Kumar.
Vijender pulled out on Saturday,citing personal reasons. Kumar,also out for personal reasons,will be replaced by young Shiva Thapa. I made this decision on Saturday as I wanted some rest. I will be training at NIS Patiala with my coaches. I understand this is an important year for me and my concentration is on earning a spot for the London Olympics, said Vijender,who got married earlier this week. The Indian team will return in June after training in Cuba for more than ten days.
Meanwhile,the uncertainty over hosting the Asian Boxing Championship has meant the two pugilists will miss out on much-needed competitive experience before the Olympic qualifiers in the form of World Championships in Baku,Azerbaijan in September. The Asian Championship was scheduled to be held in June in Amman,Jordan but problems with the host association has forced it to be postponed.
Vijender informed us about his decision two days ago. He has just got married and wanted some rest. He is an experienced and mature boxer and has his own training schedule. because of the uncertainty over the Asian championship,we are planning to send the Indian team to France in July for training, said IBF secretary PKM Raja.
The Cuba trip will be important. Last time,the youngsters met Felix Sevon and took tips from him. This time too,we expect to meet some of the Cuban legends and I hope the youngsters will benefit a lot, said Cuban coach BI Fernandez.
The team: Nanao Singh and Amandeep Singh 49kg,Suronjoy Singh and Santosh Harijan 52kg,Shiva Thapa 56kg,Vikas Krishan 60kg,manoj Kumar 64kg,Balwinder Beniwal 69kg,Kuldeep Singh 75kg,Dinesh Kumar 81kg,Manpreet Singh 91kg,Paramjeet Samota 91kg.