'Otherwise, how will India become a sporting nation and how will we compete to beat China to win 60 Olympic medals?'
Veteran boxer Sarita Devi, who is currently serving a provisional suspension, has found support from cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar who has written a letter to the Sports Minister urging him to support her and ensure that her career is not terminated prematurely.
Vijender Kumar was awarded his middleweight (75 kg) boxing bronze medal on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Shiva, a World Championships bronze-medallist and a two-time medallist at the Asian meet, edged past Kyrgyzstan's Omurbek Malabekov in a split verdict to make the last-eight stage, where he will face Chinese Taipei's Chu-En Lai in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Borgohain (69kg) signed off with a bronze medal in the Olympic Games after a comprehensive 0-5 loss to reigning world champion Busenaz Surmeneli.
The Indian juggernaut seemed unstoppable as four boxers, including Asian champion Amit Panghal (52kg), advanced to the quarter-finals with impressive victories.
Indian boxer Sachin Singh (49kg) advanced to the AIBA Youth World Championship finals after notching up an impressive victory in the last-four stage in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday.
Hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh and Olympic medallist boxer Lovlina Borgohain will be the flag-bearers of the Indian contingent during the opening ceremony of the Asian Games in Hangzhou on September 23.
Balwinder Beniwal (64kg) was the third Indian boxer to make it to the semi-finals at the 2011 ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships in Incheon, South Korea. However, while the 2008 Youth Commonwealth gold medallist got in line for his second international medal with a resounding triumph, the other three Indian boxers in the fray, on Day 9 of the competition, fell by the wayside.
I keep a licensed revolver with me always in my car, there are some personal issues with someone which I don't want to disclose, said boxer Neeraj Goyat.
The 25-year-old boxer from Telangana thrashed Thailand's Jitpong Jutamas without breaking a sweat in the 52kg final with the judges scoring the bout 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 in Nikhat's favour.
Just being in the final was enough to fetch him an Olympic berth at the Asian Qualifiers but teen Indian boxer Shiva Thapa (56kg) on Saturday said his target was never just the London ticket as he was desperate to hear the national anthem during the medal ceremony -- played only for the gold-medallists.
Mary Kom, who claimed an unprecedented sixth gold by winning the 48kg summit bout in the Women's World Championships, in New Delhi, said she became a smarter fighter in the later part of her career.
'I dedicate this medal to my country for praying for me, for supporting me. My coaches, federation, my sponsors, they have also helped me a lot.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
World Championships silver medallist Amit Panghal qualified for the Paris Olympic after defeating China's Chuang Liu in the 51kg quarter-finals of the second World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok on Sunday.
India's boxer L Sarita Devi's career could be finished after her 'unacceptable' behaviour at the Incheon Asian Games where the fighter refused to accept her bronze medal on the podium, the president of the governing AIBA said on Wednesday.
In the rematch of last year's quarter-finals, Nitu and Balkibekova went all guns blazing in the first round. However, the Kazakh was dominant and took the round 2-3.
Satish Kumar (+91kg) put up a gutsy performance against reigning World champion Bakhodir Jalolov but it was not enough to upstage the rampaging Uzbek and the Indian boxer made a quarter-final exit from the Olympic Games on Sunday.
Shiva Thapa became only the third Indian boxer ever to assure himself of a World Championships medal besides inching closer to an Olympic berth as he advanced to the semifinals with a dominating victory, in Doha, on Saturday.
Amit Panghal's campaign at the Paris Olympics mirrored his experience at the Tokyo Games. The seasoned boxer once again made a pre-quarter-finals exit while debutant Jaismine Lamboria was also ousted on Tuesday.
Debutant boxer Amit Panghal (49kg) continued his sensational run to make the final with a hard-fought win but an injured Vikas Krishan (75kg) had to settle for bronze after being declared medically unfit for his semifinal at the 18th Asian Games, in Jakarta, on Friday.
Ace Indian boxer Shiva Thapa began his Commonwealth Games campaign on a rousing note by defeating Pakistan's Suleman Baloch in the first round of the 63.5kg category, in Birmingham, on Friday.
The youngest World Championships medallist in Indian boxing, teen sensation Vikas Krishan says the bronze he notched up in the recently-concluded mega-event in Azerbaijan was a bonus after he achieved his main target of qualifying for next year's London Olympics.
Boxer L Sarita Devi has escaped with a warning after apologising for her petulant display at the Asian Games when she refused to accept her bronze medal.
Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain will look to find their footing in new weight categories with the 2024 Paris Olympic Games approaching.
Putting an end to the status of the bronze medal won by Indian woman boxer L Sarita Devi, the Olympic Council of Asia on Thursday re-instated her medal in the 60kg category after a hearing with the India's Asian Games contingent officials in Incheon.
Rounding off a reasonably successful campaign for India, Shamjetsabam Sarjubala (48kg) and Pinki Jangra (51kg) clinched god medals.
Just one win away from winning an Olympic medal after a comprehensive victory over his opponent in his pre-quarterfinal bout, Indian boxer Vikas Krishan says he wants nothing less than a gold in the Rio Games.
World Championships bronze medallist Manish Kaushik (63kg) became the ninth Indian boxer to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics after beating Australia's Harrison Garside in a brutal box-off at the Asian Qualifiers, in Amman, Jordan, on Wednesday.
The 35-year-old mother-of-three defeated China's Wu Yu 5-0 in the light flyweight (48kg) category quarterfinals to enter the last-four stage and be assured of at least a bronze.
Bhagwan has been on unpaid leave for the last three years to train Nitu, a two-time World Youth champion.
Five-time world champion Mary Kom, returning to the ring after recovering from some niggles that kept her out of the Asian Games, prevailed 5-0 against Kazakhstan's Aigerim Kassanayeva to pick up India's lone senior category gold at the event on Saturday.
The 26-year-old boxer is aiming to become India's first boxer with three back-to-back Asian Games medals.
In the lightweight (57-60kg) division, Jasmine will feature straight in the quarter-finals after getting a first round bye.
The upcoming Games will be held from July 26 to August 11 and India would be hoping to better its best ever tally of seven medals, including Chopra's historic javelin throw gold at the Tokyo Games.
'Vinesh you are a gold medalist of courage and morality.'
Indian boxer Vijender Kumar settled for a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics after being out-punched by Cuban Emilio Correa Bayeaux in the semi-finals of the 75 kg category in Beijing on Friday. The 22-year-old was simply out-thought by his Cuban rival who negated the height and reach advantage of Vijender by fighting from a long range to score an 8-5 win.
Indian boxer Pavitra (60kg) advanced to the quarter-finals of the Asian Games after out-classing Pakistan's Rukhsana Perveen in a bout that did not go beyond the opening round, in Jakarta, on Saturday.
