Road to Asian Games 2018: Can boxing relive the Guangzhou glory?

Gold Coast Commonwealth Games were the much needed shot in the arm for India, who had a bittersweet experience at the Rio Olympics. A mixed bag in the year 2017 didn't help India much either.

However, what stood out in the brilliant show that the Indian athletes displayed at Gold Coast, was the explosive return of a team, that was almost written off post Rio.

Yes, we're talking about the Indian boxers, who had a very successful outing at Gold Coast CWG 2018, where they clinched a whopping total of 9 medals, with 3 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals, their most successful medal haul at these Games ever. What's better, none of the eight male boxers returned empty-handed, a first in the history of Indian boxing.

Even the only woman who made the cut for the semis, i.e., the star boxer MC Mary Kom, came back with a smashing gold on her debut, beating Kristina O Hara from a relatively weaker Northern Ireland with ease by 5-0. All in all, India was ranked an impressive 2nd in this department, only behind the formidable England.

The BIG Question:-

However, though a matter of rejoicing, this is certainly not the time for Indian boxers to cool down, for they have bigger challenges lined up in the upcoming months of 2018. As per the AIBA calendar, the next major sporting event for the boxers is the Jakarta Asian Games, to be held from 18th August onwards in the cities of Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia.

The Asian Games are a sort of 'mini Olympics', owing to the presence of ultra-competitive, world-class Olympic champions in many an event like archery, shooting, badminton, weightlifting, etc.

Even in boxing, the Asian boxers, especially from the erstwhile Soviet bloc, including nations like Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan etc., apart from the boxers of China, South Korea, Thailand and Japan, aren't a cakewalk for any Indian boxer. A boxer from any one of these nations mentioned could give their opponent a run for their money, any given day.

The only time India managed to successfully pummel most of them was at the Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010, when the Indian team clinched the 2nd position, with 2 gold medals, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals in all. So the question is: Can India repeat, or even better their Guangzhou success story?

Can India do it?

Santiago Nieva: The job is not easy for Asiad 2018

The answer to the question is a probable yes. Being optimistic is not a crime, and going by the level of improvement in Indian boxing from the last year, we can surely say that Indian boxing is going to have a gala time at the Asian Games, provided they set the equations right.

One of the boldest reforms that succeeded at the Commonwealth Games was weeding out the non performing weight categories to give the best results, like the incumbent Boxing Federation of India did with the light welterweight and light heavyweight [64 kg. and 81 kg. respectively].

Though a consistent feature in every Indian outing, for the past few years, the boxers from this category had failed to make a significant dent on the world stage. Incidentally, Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Manoj Kumar was an ex-light welterweight boxer, but even he has moved up to the welterweight category.

Another factor in favour of the Indian pugilists is their new coach, Santiago Nieva, who has performed wonders for the Indian boxers. Employed only last year, Santiago was instrumental in bringing back a bronze medal from the AIBA World Championships 2017, when Gaurav Bidhuri clinched it in the bantamweight division.

This year, his men's boxing team went a notch higher, with none of the male boxers returning empty handed, and among them, Gaurav Solanki and Vikas Krishan Yadav even went to the extent of bringing the gold medal.

In the bouts where boxers Manish Kaushik, Satish Kumar and Amit Panghal won silver, they had lost those bouts by an agonizingly close margin of 2-3. This speaks volumes about the improvement in Indian boxing

The things India needs to keep in check

Boxing at Asian Games 2018: India needs to make an extra push

However, an improvement in the medal tally at the Commonwealth Games doesn't necessarily mean that the Indian boxers are on the right track. To put it in the words of Santiago Nieva, there's a lot more to be done, if India wants to strike big at the Asian Games.

".........Our boxers defeated opponents from strong nations such as England and Ireland, but there will be bigger tests than the Commonwealth Games. The landscape has shifted and Asian boxers are winning more medals at World Championships. Thus for the Asian Games, we would have to up our game considerably...." he said.

To be frank enough, if India needs to perform better than their outing at Guangzhou, they need to have at least 3 gold medals in their kitty. Though the task is quite uphill, it is not impossible, given the promise boxers like Amit, Manish, Gaurav and Mary Kom.

If Mary Kom wins this event again, she will have to be at her best to make sure that she ends the year with a high at the AIBA Women's World Championships, to be held after 12 years in New Delhi.

Till then, we hope that Indian boxers are in the best of their spirits, and they perform to their best at the upcoming Asiad.