VIJENDER SINGH, 26
BOXING, 75 KG MIDDLEWEIGHT Bhiwani, Haryana
VANTAGE POINT He became the world champion in the middleweight category in 2009. The achievement earned him the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and a Padma Shri. His last notable win was gold at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
CHALLENGE AHEAD Often criticised for allowing success to interfere with his training and partying in the glamour circuit, Singh made room for more doubt when he settled for bronze at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010 and followed it up with a poor run of form through 2011.
OLYMPIC RUN- UP Whether it is a case of bad luck or sheer complacency, Singh is far from his peak. He has hired a personal physiotherapist and trainer to get him in shape for London. His medal hopes rest on his ability to outsmart opponents by drawing on experience.
“I don’t believe in talking about my mistakes. I want to work on improving on them.”
HIS STORY The pin- up boy of Indian boxing, Vijender Singh took the country by storm when he won a bronze at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. He also shocked many in equal measure by crashing out of the AIBA World Boxing Championship in 2011 in Azerbaijan, jeopardising his chances for an early entry into the London Games. Singh finally qualified by reaching the semifinals of the 2012 Asian Olympic Qualifiers; a win which he hoped would silence his detractors. The final judgment, however, will only be passed post London. Singh is no stranger to pressure. He failed to qualify for the Beijing Games too in his first two attempts but came back from the quadrennial event with the country’s maiden Olympic boxing medal. This time too, Singh hopes to peak at the right time and win gold for our medal- hungry country.