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Olympian, CWG gold medalist boxer Manoj Kumar’s coach Rajesh recommended for Dronacharya Award
Rajesh’s name was recommended by former boxing national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu
Former boxing national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu has recommended the name of Kurukshetra University’s boxing coach Rajesh Kumar for the country’s highest coaching honour, the Dronacharya Award, for the year 2019-20 in the lifetime achievement category.
Rajesh is credited for shaping Olympian and Arjuna awardee boxer Manoj Kumar’s career,
Manoj has competed in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics and won gold the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi. His last major win was a bronze in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Manoj, who was bestowed with the Arjuna award in 2014, said, “I am from a humble background and had Rajesh coach sahab not taken a keen interest in me, I would not have been able to pursue the sport. All that I am today is because of him. I had many bad phases in my boxing career and it was because of his (referring to Rajesh) efforts that I was able to pull through. Though he is my elder brother, our relation is that of guru-shishya. He is no less than Dronacharya to me.”
20-YEAR COACHING CAREER
Rajesh has been a coach for 20 years. He had joined Kurukshetra University as a boxing coach in 2015.
Apart from Manoj, Rajesh has produced a number of national and international boxers.
Notably, Rajesh was also the coach of the Haryana women’s team, which had made a record for winning 10 medals in as many weight categories in the 2016 national championship.
Under his tutelage, the Kurukshetra University won first position in the Khelo India University Games.
As a Dronacharya awardee, Sandhu can recommend the name for this prestigious coaching honour.
INTERNATIONAL AIBA TWO STAR COACH
In his recommendation to the sports ministry, Sandhu, who was the national coach when Vijender Singh won the country’s first Olympic medal in 2008 Beijing Games, also highlighted that Rajesh was an international AIBA two star coach and is the only coach from India to represent the British franchise ‘The British Lion Hearts’ boxing team in the 2017 World Boxing Series.
“It is an honour for me that a great coach like Sandhu sir found my credentials worthy enough to be recommended for the Dronacharya Award. I have learnt a lot from him as he is the one who changed the Indian boxing scene,” said Rajesh.
