Boxing team awaits conditioning expert

NEWDELHI: The men’s boxing team preparing for the first Olympic qualifier in February will be without the services of strength and conditioning expert Rickard Nilsson from Sweden due to delay in his appointment. The national camp started on November 15 at Bellary (Karnataka) and will continue till January 26.

India’s high performance director Santiago Nieva said presence of Nilsson would have made a big difference in preparation for Asian/oceania Olympic qualifier event starting February 3-14 at Wuhan in China.

“The focus in the two-and-half month long camp is on specific physical training, which was why a strength and conditioning expert was recommended four months ago. It’s important...but we have to do without him at the moment,” said Nieva.

Nilsson’s named was proposed by Nieva. The BFI has now put out an advertisement for the post and it will take some time for the formalities to be completed. The federation is also looking for two more foreign coaches. The deadline to invite application is November 26.

At the World Championships in Russia, the men’s team had won two medals—amit Panghal won silver in 52kg and Manish Kaushik claimed bronze in 63kg. The competition was held as per the Olympic weight categories

Nieva said Indian boxers need to improve their performance to grab quota places in China. “If the target is winning quota places it’s important to improve in all the areas,” he said. “We have build up a strong team for the World Championships. We hope to further sustain our efforts and earn Tokyo berths in the first qualifier,” said Nieva.

Jay Kowli, BFI secretary general, didn’t elaborate on the delay. “It will take time to get foreign expert on board,” he said.

The second chance to seal Tokyo berth will be during World Qualification competition at Paris from May 13-24.

On the basis of performance at the national championships held in October at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, 23 new faces have been selected in the camp. “It’s always good to give chance to new boxer but too early to predict on their potential,” he said.

There are more than 50 boxers in the camp and BFI will also send a team for South Asian Games in Nepal from December 3.

The final selection for China will take place Bellary on December 29-30. After the China competition we would shift back to Patiala.