The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Vikas didn’t want to aggravate his shoulder injury, claims coach
IN VIKAS Krishan, the Indian contingent at the Asian Amateur Boxing Championships held its best chance of winning a gold medal. After all, the 25-year-old pugilist was top seeded in his 75 kg middleweight category. As expected, the two-time Asian Games medallist marched into the semifinals to secure at least a bronze medal for the country, and booked himself a berth at the World Championships in August. But inexplicably, he forfeited his next bout to exit from the tournament.
"On the day of the semi-final we told him to start preparing, but he had already made his decision and he told us that he's not going to fight that bout," said SR Singh, head coach of the national team.
Krishan's decision to withdraw from the semi-final bout, against Lee Dong-jin of South Korea, was scheduled on May 6, days before he was expected to travel to Paris to compete for the British Lionhearts in a World Series Boxing tie against the France Fighting Roosters. "He had fought against the Korean boxer before, and he said that the injury risk was high. So he didn't want to fight the semi-final because he wanted to compete at the WSB," added the coach.
According to a source close to Krishan, the 2011 World Championship bronze medallist had suffered a minor shoulder injury during the quarterfinal and was wary of further aggravating it by competing further in the Tashkent, Uzbekistan based event.
SR Singh however, refuted the claim. "As much as I saw, there was no injury."
The Boxing Federation of India has come down strongly on Krishan, barring him from competing in the WSB this week. Instead, the BFI will conduct disciplinary procedures depending on the boxer's testimony. "We want to give him a chance before making any disciplinary decision based on what happened in Tashkent. A three-member committee has been formed to look into the matter," confirmed Jay Kowli, BFI secretary general.