Olympic qualification is just job half done: Vijender

While Vijender said that qualification was not the only target,coach Gurbax Sandhu said that his Olympic qualification was crucial for the sport in India.

A day after arriving in the capital from the Asian Olympic Qualifiers tournament in Astana,Kazakhstan,with the relief of securing a crucial Olympic quota,Beijing Olympics bronze-medallist Vijender Singh acknowledged that the job was only half done. The real test will be the Olympics, he said.

While the level of competition at the Olympics is at a higher level than that at the competitions Indias boxers have so far taken part in,Vijender was bullish about the teams chances.

We will aim for two medals. Perhaps in the next Olympics we can aim for even more, said the middleweight. Betting big,he said was the key to success at the highest level. Of course it is a great feeling to qualify for the Olympics but just going to London cant be the only goal. Unless your goal is to win a medal you wont, said Vijender on the sidelines of a felicitation ceremony for the seven Indian boxers who qualified for the 2012 Olympics.

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While Vijender said that qualification was not the only target,coach Gurbax Sandhu said that his Olympic qualification was crucial for the sport in India. Vijender is the poster boy of boxing in India. He is a hero to a lot of young boys. It was essential that he plays in London, he said.

It is a statement Sumit Sangwan,who will box in the light heavyweight category,will agree with. In 2008,after Vijender won the bronze,I realised that it was not impossible to win a medal at the Olympics. It became a dream of mine to also win a medal. Of course,I never expected that I could get a chance in the very next Olympics, said the 19-year-old.

The path to an Olympic medal will have to be paved with intense preparation. If you want to succeed then you have to ensure that you train better and harder than anyone else and to the best of your ability. Then it is inevitable, said Shiva Thapa,who will compete in the bantamweight (56kg) category. And so with the aim of leaving no stone unturned the team prepares for a hectic training and practice schedule.

In few weeks time all the Olympic hopefuls,along with a few sparring partners will be going to Ireland for a training camp. They will then head to Almaty in Kazakhstan where they will be training with boxers from other countries and also taking part in a tournament. The schedule finally winds up in June in London where the boxers will again train before they enter the Olympic Games village.

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After the ground-breaking achievement of Beijing,the pressure of expectations is likely to be intense. More so for Vijender,playing his third Olympics,who will have to shoulder the responsibility of being the senior mentor to the three teenagers (Shiva,Sumit Sangwan and Devendro Singh) and Vikas Krishan,20,in the contingent.

Boxing is an individual sport but we share our individual experiences with each other. They will get whatever support they need from me. I am ready to play the senior role and soak in the pressure, Vijender said. The Indian team is perfect right now. The teenagers in the team signify that Indias boxing future is very bright. They will do really well and I will also try to live up to the expectations being the senior guy, he laughed.