Marykom’s knockout punch to former guru

That there is a rift between India’s star woman boxer, MC Marykom, and her former guru, national coach Anoop Kumar, is an open secret at the London Olympic preparatory camp currently underway at Patiala.

That there is a rift between India’s star woman boxer, MC Marykom, and her former guru, national coach Anoop Kumar, is an open secret at the London Olympic preparatory camp currently underway at Patiala.

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The world champion has alleged that the coach is sticking to the same old training system, which was in vogue a decade back. “We are following the same technique for the last 10 years.

We may have won a couple of medals in major international tournaments, but the Olympic Games are an altogether different platform. We are not learning new techniques that would give us the edge in the ring in the future,” said the Manipur boxer.

Women’s boxing is being introduced for the first time at the Olympics and the five-time world champion is aiming for a podium finish.

Hence, she feels that under the current coaching setup, it’s difficult to enhance ones chances of winning medals at the 2012 Games.

Anoop, however, refused to comment on the issue, saying, “The federation will be in a better position to give details.”

Though the Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) is aware of the growing animosity, they are guarded at the moment. “We don’t want a foreign coach just for the sake of it. It would lead to more controversy,” IBF secretary-general, PK Muralidharan Raja, said.

“With just eight months left for Olympic qualification round, a major reshuffle would do more harm that good.”

In a bid to pacify the player, the IBF has made a makeshift arrangement by calling junior national coach, D Chander Lal, to assist Anoop.

“He (Chander Lal) is technically good; it would benefit the players,” said Raja.