Asian Games mean a lot to me, says Thapa
New Delhi, Aug. 5: Success propels but setbacks teach life lessons like none can, feels seasoned Indian boxer Shiva Thapa, who cannot wait to turn his “growth” story of a rollercoaster year into a maiden Asian Games medal this month.
The first and only Indian boxer with three consecutive Asian Championships medals — a gold (2013), silver (2017) and a bronze (2015) — Shiva will take part in his second Asian Games, scheduled from August 18 in Jakarta and Palembang.
The last time around, he lost in the quarterfinals and the Assam boxer offered a rather philosophical take on success and setbacks, careful to specify that by setbacks, he did not mean failures. “I think setbacks are a better teacher. They make you stronger and when you bounce back, it’s the most amazing feeling,” says the 25-year-old, one of only four Indian boxers to have a world championship medal in his cabinet.
“Success definitely propels you and makes you confident, but setbacks, they are like a tightly pulled bowstring; the farther it is pulled, the faster you go ahead. Success also teaches you things but a lot of times, you can get carried away too. But setbacks pump you up like nothing else,” he adds.
“The Asian Games mean a lot to me. By a lot, I mean, I can’t even tell you how much. It is a massive challenge first and foremost but a challenge that I am ready for. This is the biggest competition I would be in since shifting to 60kg in 2016.” The perspective perhaps comes from enduring a rocky ride in the last one year. It all started with his historic silver at the Asian Championships in May 2017, the first international medal since the shift from 56kg to 60kg in the winter of 2016.
As a result, he went in as a top contender at the world championships in Hamburg but could not even set foot inside the ring due to a bout of food poisoning a night before his opening fight.
After that, there was the silver at the national championships, a bronze at the India Open, during which his body was not quite at 100 per cent. Eventually, Shiva could not make the cut for the 2018 Commonwealth Games after being pipped on points by Manish Kaushik.
SANCTIONS-HIT PHILIPPINES TO SEND TEAM AFTER ALL
The Philippines said it would send a men’s basketball team to the Asian Games in Indonesia, just days after abruptly pulling out in the wake of an oncourt brawl with Australia at a World Cup qualifier.
The Gilas announced their withdrawal from the Asiad basketball tournament on July 27 after basketball’s governing body Fiba suspended 10 of their players and two coaches over the July 2 Manila melee, which saw players and fans exchanging punches and flying kicks.
However a special aide to President Rodrigo Duterte announced Sunday that the national federation and the country’s professional basketball league had since agreed to field a team, a decision confirmed by the Gilas team manager.