As he gears up to chase his 'London Dreams' with the first Olympic qualifiers next month, star Indian boxer Vijender Singh is not just working hard on his game, he is also trying to figure out an all-new system of scoring that has left him "confused".
'Vinesh you are a gold medalist of courage and morality.'
It was a good day for Indian boxers on Wednesday as Manpreet Singh and Vijender Singh reached the final of men's 91kg competition and 75 kg competition respectively at the Asian Games in Guangzhou.
Top seed Vikas Krishan (75kg) and fourth seed Shiva Thapa (60kg) were among the four Indian boxers who qualified for the World Championships and assured themselves of medals by advancing to the Asian Championships semi-finals, in Tashkent, on Wednesday.
In women's events, the semi-finalists in the 50kg, 54kg, 57kg, and 60kg as well as the finalists in the 66kg and 75kg will qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Mary Kom will have to fight in the higher 51kg class if she wants to compete in next year's Tokyo Games.
India bagged as many as 21 medals at the Spanish Para Badminton International in Cartagena, Spain.
World Championships bronze medallist Sonia Lather also kickstarted her campaign on a winning note. The Haryana pugilist dominated Rosorio Milogros of Argentina for a 5-0 victory in the women's 57 kg category.
Vijender Singh, India's first ever Olympic medal winner in boxing, speaks about his plans for the mega event, and why he thinks he can win a gold medal this time.
Boxer Shiv Thapa settled for a silver as he went down fighting to Cuban world champion Ramirez Robeisy Aloy in the bantam weight final on the penultimate day of the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore on Wednesday.
India Amit Panghal (52kg) bowed out of the Olympics boxing after a surprising 1-4 defeat to Rio Games silver-medallist Yuberjen Martinez in the pre-quarter-finals, on Saturday.
Krrish, Ravi enter semis of Asian Youth & Junior Boxing Championships
'Action for the sake of action never really works, then it's an item number.' 'Action works when the emotional drama and arc of the story moves forward with the action.'
'Mary dominated but the scoring did not go in her favour. I think she was robbed of a bout.'
Five-time world champion M C Mary Kom entered the final in the 48 kg classs at the Commonwealth Games, beating Sri Lanka's Anusha Dilrukshi , on Wednesday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar discussed the way forward for L Sarita Devi with Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday and urged the entire country to support the woman boxer who is facing a possible life ban from the International Boxing Association for refusing her bronze medal at the Incheon Asian Games.
Third seed Satish Kumar (+91kg) and sixth seed Manoj Kumar (69kg) were among the three Indian boxers who qualified for the World Championships after winning their respective box-offs at the Asian Championships in Tashkent, on Sunday.
G S Sandhu lauded the performance of Vijender and Diwakar Prasad, who clinched berth in the Olympics.
Deepak clinched one of the most memorable wins of his career with a 4-1 win over more fancied Zoirov
Nitu beat Italy's Erika Prisciandaro, a former Youth World Championship bronze-medallist, 5-0, while Zareen outpunched Ukraine's Tetiana Kob, a three-time European Championships medallist, 4-1.
PV Sindhu, Depika Padukone ensured Indian representation on the global front.
Assured of an Olympic berth, Indian boxer Vikas Krishan (75kg) settled for a bronze medal in the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) World Qualifying Tournament.
In a tough final bout, the 22-year-old Indian boxer didn't get bogged down and kept landing his punches even as the Uzbek tried to overpower him.
Indian boxer Vijender Singh earned bronze medals at the World and Asian championships in 2009 but he has a fight on his hands getting money from his state government.
Home advantage notwithstanding, Indian boxers will have their task cut out when they take the ring in this year's Commonwealth Games as a record 304 international pugilists are set to participate in the October 3 to 14 megaevent.
The starlet has done a Poonam Pandey, all for the cause of a sport.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
'I am feeling so nervous. I will be among so many big politicians.' 'It is a big responsibility and I hope I learn every day and do something for the people in whatever way I can.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated MC Mary Kom for winning a record sixth gold medal in the Women's World Championships on Saturday.
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.
A first-round defeat in the Commonwealth Games hit him so badly that Indian boxer Manpreet Singh lost the will to continue before psychatric sessions at NIS Patiala revived his confidence and "guided" him to a silver medal at the just-concluded Asian Games.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist weightlifter Achinta Sheuli has been expelled from the Paris Olympics preparatory camp after he was caught entering the women's hostel at night at NIS Patiala.
After the lifting of suspension on Indian boxers, the barred Indian Amateur Boxing Federation has got another shot in the arm with the world body, AIBA, approving its amended constitution.
It turned out to be a largely disappointing day for Indian boxers at the Asian Games with former World Championship bronze-medallist Vikas Krishan (75kg) being the only one to advance, making the quarter-final, while three others fell by the wayside.
As the one-year ban for the tearful outburst at the Asian Games ends on Thursday, former World champion Laishram Sarita Devi says the forced sabbatical proved a blessing in disguise and helped her become a thinking boxer and calmer person.
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.
World Junior bronze-medallist Sachin Singh (49kg) became only the third Indian boxer ever to strike gold at the AIBA Youth World Championships with a stunning unanimous victory over Cuban national champion Jorge Grinan in the summit clash at St Peterburg, Russia, on Saturday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
The Indian boxing ace will train at the World famous boxing club 'The Wild Card Boxing Club' in Hollywood CA under legendary coach Freddie Roach -- a 2012 International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee.
