Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Dinesh Kumar is still hurting from his first-round loss against Algerias Abdelhafid Benchabla that ended his medal dreams at the Beijing Olympics. That loss and a fracture in his right hand had sidelined him for most part of 2009. But 2010 has begun in the right earnest for the 23-year-old Bhiwani boxer,who won a silver medal in the Champions of the Champions tournament in Guangzhou this week.
Singh was nursing a hairline fracture before the tournament and the silver-medal performance has meant that his preparation for Commonwealth Boxing Championship is on right track. This year has begun on a positive note after the last. Many of Asias top-ranked boxers were there and the competition was very tough. I was nursing a hairline fracture before the tournament but felt almost fully fit before the tournament started, said Dinesh,who lost to Chinas Meng Fan Lang in the 81 Kg category final.
The Indian contingent of four boxers including Vijender Singh,Nanao Singh,Akhil Kumar and Dinesh won two medals,with Vijender and Dinesh winning a silver each.
Indian coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu sounded confident that most of the boxers were in fine form and will hit their peak before the Commonwealth Boxing Championship,the CWG as well as the Asian Games. The boxers are yet to reach their peak and I am confident that they will be ready before the important events. We will be working on some defence techniques in the coming days. China now wants a bilateral series or a competition with India and we will work that out, said Sandhu.
