Boxing will make India top-10 nation in Olympics — Kiren Rijiju

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju during an online video interactive session with India's elite boxers on Sunday acknowledged their efforts and said boxing will play a vital role in making India a sporting powerhouse and a top-10 nation in the medals tally at Olympic Games.

Rijiju praised the efforts of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and its President Ajay Singh to keep the boxers engaged with online coaching sessions despite COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The online video conference was attended by around 140 elite Indian pugilists along with coaches and officials.

Indian boxers have already secured a record nine qualification quotas at Tokyo Olympics and will be fighting for four more places in the upcoming qualification tournaments.

Rijiju also informed that the government is planning to allow elite athletes to resume their training at the earliest to keep them ready for future competitions.

"I have discussions with my officers. We are planning out a way to start functioning as soon as possible. I thought first of all we should allow practice for the players who have qualified for the Olympics and who will be participating in the qualifiers or important championships. We can't open all the coaching centres, so we will allow only for elite athletes. Junior camps have to wait for some time as safety will be priority," he concluded.

The minister further interacted with the boxers to know their situation during the lockdown and training schedules.

"Whatever we have achieved today, credit goes to the coaches, federation and the government. It's really impressive and motivating to interact with you sir (Rijiju). If we keep getting support from the government, we will definitely win Olympic medals, World Championship medals," Asian Games gold medallist Vikas Krishnan said.

Also read: Boxers won’t play till clear guidelines are in place to ensure their safety

Also read: How Rajesh Kasana went from selling tea to becoming India’s best lightweight boxer