Junior Indian boxing team leaves for Baku

Indian Team members pose for a photograph

New Delhi: While the starlets of the Indian women’s boxing team stake a claim for an Olympic berth at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships, the junior men of Indian boxing will look the strengthen the foundations of their careers as they participate in the 10^thPresident Heydar Aliyev Cup – an international boxing tournament scheduled to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan from the 9^th – 14^th May’ 2012. A 10 member junior men’s boxing team, consisting of seven boxers, two coaches and one referee/judge, left for the capital city of Azerbaijan on Wednesday.

Boxing at this level, is traditionally a first opportunity to witness future world champions and Olympic heroes. Coach-in-charge of the junior men’s team Mahendra Singh Dhaka, under whose wings all seven London Olympic qualified boxers have trained at some point or the other, believes this is where talent is first unearthed and nurtured. He said, “This level of the sport plays a vital role in the professional development of a boxer or any athlete for that matter, and the international exposure received at this level makes a big difference.”

 Talking about the 10^th President Heydar Aliyev Cup he said, “We have regularly participated and done well in this tournament; it has been a part of our long term development program for quite some time now. The event makes for a fine competition as a lot of high quality boxers from around the world participate. This time also we are looking to get good match practice for our boys through this event and it will also help our preparations for the Children of Asia Games and the Asian Championships later this year”.

In the previous edition of the tournament, India returned with one gold medal and two bronze medals. Naveen Kumar (52 kg) who won the gold in the fly weight division will look to defend his title this time around. For the 15 year old from Haryana, the title won in Baku holds great importance, as it provided him the impetus to do well at the Junior World Boxing Championships, where he bagged a silver medal. “This will be my second time at the President Heydar Aliyev Cup and I am confident of replicating last year’s performance”, said Kumar. He further added, “This competition provides a good playing field and helps us in our preparation for the future events.”

Bronze medallist at the 2011 Junior World Boxing Championships Sandeep Kumar (66kg) will also be seen in action at the tournament along with the likes of Manish Kaushik (57kg) and Shyam Kumar Kakra (48kg)          

Squad: 

Indian squad for the 10th President Heydar Aliyev Cup
S.No	Wt Cat	Name
1	Light Fly Weight (48 Kg)	Shyam Kumar Kakra	AP
2	Fly Weight (50 Kg)	Laldinmawia	MIZ
3	Light Bantam Weight (52 Kg)	Naveen Kumar	SSCB
4	Feather Weight (57 Kg)	Manish Kaushik	HAR
5	Light Weight (60 Kg)	Deepak Pahal	HAR
6	Light Welter Weight (63 kg)	Manjeet	SSCB
7	Welter (66 kg)	Sandeep Kumar	HAR
Support Staff
1	M.S. Dhaka	Coach
2	Anil	Coach
3	Col. Vikram Singh	R/Judge