With Beijing on the mind, boxers leave for Chicago

But there was one discordant note: Army boxer Som Bahadur Pun 64kg has pulled out due to illness. It8217;s unfortunate, says Sandhu, that Pun couldn8217;t recover in time from a bout of fever, and he had to miss the world meet. In fact, Pun was one of the best boxers 8212; he was coming back to the ring after a gap of one year 8212; in the nationals in New Delhi last month. Incidentally, Pun also missed the ongoing World Military Games in Hyderabad.

Even though Sandhu is confident of a good show by the Indian squad in Chicago, he felt that the majority of boxers did not have the big-tournament experience. 8220;At least four to five players are expected to win berths for Beijing. But the current lot has quite a few boxers who are not experienced enough when it comes to a world meet like this.8221;

Barring Olympian Suresh Singh 54kg, who is on the comeback trail and Vijender 75kg, other members of the team haven8217;t had much chance to trade punches in a big event like the world championships. Sandhu agrees that there will be big-time pressure on the players in the world competition but it is the same for all the participants. 8220;Even a lot of experienced boxers will feel the heat. We have been working on the psychological aspect and preparing our pugilists to take these things off their minds. I believe they will withstand the pressure,8221; said the Dronacharaya Awardee.

The coach didn8217;t divulge much on the medal prospects of the team, saying it8217;s premature to count the medals before the meet. He said: 8220;We have trained very hard for the meet. Going by the current performance of the players, almost all should reach the quarters in their respective groups.8221; But, as he added later, 8220;a lot will also depend on the draw and performance of the player on a particular day.8221;

Sandhu would not, however, say who would be the best bet in the squad. 8220;I won8217;t name anybody becasue that will discourage others in the squad.8221; For the Asian boxers, the second round of Olympic qualification will be held in January next, followed by the third and last in March. Meanwhile, foreign coach BI Fernandez has joined the squad and will accompany it to Chicago. Since he arrived late from Cuba, the boxers haven8217;t had a useful session with him so far.

8226;The squad: Balbir Singh 48kg, Jitender Kumar 51kg, Suresh Singh 54kg, AL Lakra 57kg, Jai Bhagwan 60kg, Dilbag Singh 69kg, Vijender 75kg and Jasveer Singh 81kg.