Indian pugilists start practice in UK's Birmingham ahead of CWG 2022

The Indian Boxing contingent comprising of 12 boxers which includes four women and eight men arrived here at Birmingham to compete in Commonwealth Games 2022. With the aim to win medals for the country at the event, the pugilists wasted no time and started their practice sessions.

By Vivek Prabhakar Singh The Indian Boxing contingent comprising of 12 boxers which includes four women and eight men arrived here at Birmingham to compete in Commonwealth Games 2022. With the aim to win medals for the country at the event, the pugilists wasted no time and started their practice sessions.

Indian boxers from Amit Panghal, Ashish Kumar Chaudhary, Sanjeet, Mohammad Hussamuddin were seen doing shadow boxing and then were trained by one of the boxing coach Dharmendra Singh Yadav who was helping them do pad work. "The preparation for Commonwealth Games in Birmingham is going on very well. All the eight boxers have worked very hard. The experience under the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), Sports Authority of India (SAI), and Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NIS) Patiala, where a coaching camp was organized, was amazing amidst COVID-19 restrictions. From the administration's point of view, everything was managed properly including maintenance of equipments, coaching etc. Everything was organized well, " said India men's boxing coach Narendra Rana while speaking to ANI.

Just before the start of the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, the Indian boxers were training in Belfast (the capital of Northern Ireland) for the past two weeks. "Training in Ireland was great for our boxers. Especially, training in such a climate is challenging to ensure good performance. The way we trained in Ireland for 13 days will hopefully have a positive impact in the games," Rana added.

Alongside the men's team, India women pugilists were also sweating it out by giving their all strength. Tokyo Olympic Bronze Medallist Lovlina Bargohain did shadow boxing and also did some gym exercises under the watchful eyes of women's head coach Bhaskar Bhatt while reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen did intense skipping exercises. Jasmine, too, did some intense shadow boxing. The Indian men's team coach is confident that all the male pugilists have the potential to win a medal in the quadrennial event.

"We will win a medal 100 per cent. Undoubtedly. The coaches, the supporting staff and the effort put by boxers are 100 per cent. Let's see what happens next. A lot depends on luck as well as the draws and byes which make a lot of difference. The expectations are very high. All the eight boxers can win medals. All of them have the capability to win a medal, " said Boxing coach Narendra Rana. Alongside Indian boxers, there were pugilists from other countries also practicing indicating that the competition is going to be an intense one. The Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 is being held from July 28 to August 8. (ANI)

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