City pugilists lack direction

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 19: Even though the Chandigarh contingent recently struck bronze in the recently- concluded Fifth National Games held a...

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 19: Even though the Chandigarh contingent recently struck bronze in the recently- concluded Fifth National Games held at Imphal, the participants in the post-National Games state meet held here last week were struggling to find their touch. Out of the 12 finals, most of the bouts were one-sided affairs. In some sections, there were hardly three participants, which depicts the overall standard of the game. The games aficionado, however, feel that the main reasons for the decline are lack of incentives, intense competition and almost nil job opportunities.

In the the light weight Aashish retired within 30 seconds of the first round. Still, his efforts fetched him a silver medal. The gold went to Amar Kotal.

The super heavy bout also proved to be a lacklustre affair. Ranbir Wadhawan retired in the first round, but was awarded the silver while the gold medal went to Jodhbir Singh.

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On the other hand, Kulwinder won gold in the light heavy without even shedding a drop. His opponent Rishi Pal did not turn up at the venue and Kulwinder got a walkover Says Harvinder Singh, winner of the bronze medal in the Manipur National Games: “I am looking for a job of any kind. I want to money to support myself.” Harvinder, who is a graduate, is helping his family in business. In between his hectic scheduled he sneaks in to have sparring. “It is difficult to work for long hours and then practice.”

There are many more like Harvinder who are struggling to make it big. “I have been giving good performances but there is no incentive or departmental promotion,” said a boxer who has been participating in national-level tournament for a couple of years now.

Was it sheer skill or merely a chance, that gave Harvinder third place in the National Game? Don’t many believe that gold is the true character of a pugilist, while silver and bronze depend on lady luck?

Says a pugilist who is a regular at the Boxing Coaching Centre-46: “All depends on the pool. If you are up against a strong opponent in the initial rounds, you are out. But if there is weak rival, there are chances of winning at least a bronze, if not silver.”

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But for sure the gold always goes to the best in the fray. “It is difficult to win a gold without much training.” said another boxer. You can still win one, like Kulwinder did, if there are no opponents.

“There is no professionalism at the senior division. One has to sweat for hours to reach that standard (national), and win a medal,” said a coach. That’s true as in the last five years, Chandigarh has got only a few bronze medals in the senior category.

Then there is the problem of lesser tournaments (and competition) for the City boxers to exhibit their talent at the senior level. There are two main championships — one is the state meet and the other is AK Mishra Memorial tournament.

The affiliated units do not help in the development of the game either, resulting in mass decline. Some units exist only on papers. Now, only if these units engage themselves actively in the development of the game, it would be a different world altogether. “Only four or five units generally take part in the meets,” said CK Jerath, secretary, Chandigarh Amateur Boxing Association.

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With only a couple of days left for the national meet to be held at Vishakpatnam, most of the winners in the state meet, who would don the side’s colours, are not training training collectively.

A visit to one of the training centres, revealed that only a few pugilists cared to train for the sterner tests ahead.