City boys eager for power punch

SLOWLY BUT steadily, boxing is catching fancy of youngsters in the City. This could be seen at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Training Centre (STC) where boxers, under guidance of NIS coach Jaivir Singh, are toiling to learn punching hard.

In all, 16 boxers including six girls are practising in the morning and evening sessions. “Few years back it was hard for me to attract school and college students to  boxing, but with good support from SAI, youths have been attracted to this game”, said coach Jaivir Singh.

Two players, Faiz Ahmed and Praveen Kurre, recently returned after attending the national camp in Kolkata. “Their success will inspire others to join the game”, said Singh.

They will join the second edition of the camp to be organised in Himachal Pradesh from the first week of June. The camp will be organised to prepare boxers for the international championship to be organised in Russia later this year.

Girls have also shown interest in boxing. Priyanka Verma, winner of gold medal in the state level championship, organised in the City this year recently  has  dream of winning medals at the national and international level in the game dominated by men.

A great fan of Laila Ali, Priyanka said that her wish is to prove that girls can also bring laurels in this game. However, she is disappointed that no national championship has been organised here for last few years.

After a long gap, a boxing championship of state level was organised at the STC. According to Bhopal District Boxing Association (BDBA) secretary Deepak Gaur, regular championships will attract school level students to boxing.

“We have planned to regularly organise boxing championships in future”, said Gaur. SAI regional director AK Sharma said that the training centre at Bishenkheri would provide international standard boxing facilities. “Wait for sometime, we will give a standard boxing ring with all the facilities at the centre”, said Sharma.