>There's still hope and plenty to play for, says Rediff.com's Aruneel Sadadekar.
Shiva Thapa and Vikas Krishan will be among India's best bets to better both the colour and number of medals at the 19th World Boxing Championships, starting in Hamburg on Friday.
India's 572 athletes hope to return home with an overflowing treasure chest of medals.
Asian Games gold medallist Indian boxer Kaur Singh, who once fought the legendary Muhammad Ali in an exhibition bout, died on Thursday.
Rookie Manisha outclasses two-time bronze medallist Christina Cruz
While the boxers have done their bit by winning laurels at international competitions and securing as many as seven spots at the Olympics, the support staff has also played a key role in the success.
L P Prasad (49 kg) clinched the only gold for India at the 33rd International Tammer Youth Boxing Tournament, beating England's Jack Bateson in the final, in Tampere, Finland. The 17-year-old put up a sterling performance to emerge victorious and bag his first international medal.
Vijender Kumar made sure of another medal for India at the Beijing Olympics when he beat Carlos Gongora of Ecuador in the quarter-finals of the 75 kg category in the boxing competition on Wednesday.
India's total medal count stood at 252 (132 gold, 79 silver, 41 bronze), leaving behind hosts Nepal and Sri Lanka behind. Nepal has won 165 medals (45 gold, 44 silver, 76 bronze) while Sri Lanka have collected 197 medals (36 gold, 68 silver, 93 bronze).
The Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is confident that India's medal tally in next year's Rio Olympic Games will go up to 10 plus from six medals, which the country's athletes bagged at London Olympics in 2012.
Atalanta beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final
Amateur boxing's world governing body has dismissed as 'preposterous and utterly untrue' allegations that Azerbaijan was promised two gold medals at next year's London Olympics in exchange for a loan of millions of dollars.
Faced with the herculean task of reviving the sagging fortunes of Indian boxing, newly-elected Boxing India President Sandeep Jajodia said the sport had been left 'orphaned' in the last couple of years and he would bring it back on track with clean administration.
Boxer Vikas Krishan prefers US Pro bouts to National camp in Patiala
M C Mary Kom says she is a shade "nervous" heading into her ninth appearance at the showpiece, not because of the competition that awaits her but the overwhelming expectations at home.
S. Santhosh Singh became the first Indian pugilist to win a silver medal at the men's under-19 World Boxing Championships.
A summary of Indian athletes' performance on Wednesday, Day 6 of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday.
The hits and misses of the week.
Indian teenager Prayag Chauhan beat local boy Azat Ilyubayev in the lightweight category (60kg) final at the ASBC Asian Confederation Junior Boxing Championships in Kazakhstan.
Teen sensation Shiva Thapa (56kg) reaffirmed his status as the rising star of Indian boxing, becoming the youngest pugilist from the country to clinch a gold medal at the Asian Championships in Amman, Jordan, on Monday. India, suspended internationally for nearly a year due to administrative wrangling in the federation, rounded off the campaign with a gold, two silver and a bronze medal while fighting under the International Boxing Association's flag.
Aussie all-rounder Shane Watson's contributions in both Tests and ODIs in the last 12 months have helped him win the Allan Border medal on Monday.
M C Mary Kom (51kg) and Shiva Thapa (60kg) were among the prominent names assured of medals as the host nation continued to dominate the ring in the US $100,000 India Open boxing tournament for men and women, in Delhi, on Tuesday.
National coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu says the four-year-long administrative logjam cannot escape blame for all that has gone wrong with the once flourishing sport.
Thokchom Nanao Singh assured himself of a medal by advancing to semi-finals while Olympic bronze medal winner Vijender Singh pulled off a stunning triumph over Uzbek Atoev Abbos to enter the quarter-finals of the Asian Boxing Championships in Zhuhai, China, on Tuesday.
Thokchom Nanao Singh assured himself of a medal by advancing to semi-finals while Olympic bronze medal winner Vijender Singh pulled off a stunning triumph over Uzbek Atoev Abbos to enter the quarter-finals of the Asian Boxing Championships in Zhuhai, China, on Tuesday. Youth World champion Nanao Singh (48kg) rallied to beat Chia-Lun Lu of Chinese Taipei 8-4 and reach the semi-finals.
Indian national and youth World Champion Sarjubala Devi (48kg) and Saweety (81kg) faltered at the final hurdle to settle for silver medals, rounding off a decent campaign for the country in the 8th Women's World Boxing Championship, in Jeju, Korea on Monday.
It is said that we are the creators of our own destiny. But there are times when we have to stand up to the fact that few things are beyond our reach.
Bickering in the Indian boxing community may lead to a mass exodus of Olympic medal prospects to the professional circuit as they are 'starved' of exposure due to the absence of a national federation, South Asian Games Tournament Director (Boxing) Lenny D'Gama has said.
Apart from Nikhat, Manisha Moun and Parveen Hooda, both of whom bronze medal at the Women's World Boxing Championships, met the Prime Minister.
Top seed Vikas Krishan (75kg) and Gaurav Bidhuri (56kg) advanced to the quarter-finals, giving India a good start at the Asian Boxing Championships in Tashkent on Monday.
Mohd Ali Qamar and Jitender Kumar won gold medals in the Light-fly and Light-heavyweight categories respectively.\n\n
A few Indian stars will have to go through the disappointment of watching all the action from afar.
Shami was there to receive the honours. He took 24 wickets in seven World Cup games last year.
The coveted Olympic medal eluded him yet again, but, far from being bogged down, boxer Vikas Krishan says he is now aiming to become the first Indian to clinch two medals at the World Championships irrespective of whether a national federation takes shape or not.
Nikhat notched up an easy 5-0 win over South Korea's Chorong Bak in the second round of the women's event.
Berlin-based boxer Sadia Bromand is fighting for her compatriots and wants to win the Olympic gold for the Afghan women living under oppression.
Both the boxers stuck to a defensive approach but Rani was the more accurate of the two.
Star paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal and World champion boxer Nikhat Zareen have been named India's flagbearers for the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Monday.
The Indian pugilists won the flyweight and light-heavyweight final bouts.\n\n\n\n
