All eyes on Neymar at men’s football competition
SAO PAULO: The last time Brazil played a major football tournament at home, Neymar was stretchered off the field and then missed an embarrassing loss against Germany in the 2014 World Cup semifinals. Two years later, the Barcelona star looks to rebound from that disappointment at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Although the Olympic football tournament doesn’t have the same importance of a World Cup, the Rio Games have a special meaning for the Brazilian striker. Neymar will be one of the games’ biggest stars and will carry the responsibility of leading the five-time world champions to their first football gold medal. “It’s a unique opportunity,” he said. “Not only for me, but for everyone on the team. We know how important this medal is.” CHANDIGARH: Over the years, the exploits of its boxers have earned Bhiwani the title ‘mini Cuba’. Whether it’s the Olympics or any other international meet, Haryana is the biggest contributor to the men’s national squad, and within the state, it’s Bhiwani that rules.
In the early days, Kolkata and Mumbai dominated, and the sport spread to other parts from here. Mumbai was the first city in the country to have a boxing association with the Bombay Presidency Amateur Boxing Federation coming up in 1925.
India made its boxing debut at the Olympics during the 1948 Games and was represented by Rabin Bhatta, Babu Lal, Benoy Bose, Gene Raymond, Robert DINGKO SINGH, on politics hitting preparations for the Olympic Games
It’s the young generation that keeps the ball rolling.
What is your expectation in Rio?
All three are seasoned and have proved their worth several times. Shiva Thapa had a World Championship medal, Vikas Krishan has a medal at the Worlds and Manoj Kumar is
FATHER FIGURE
Paresh Lal Roy popularised the sport in Kolkata and it was his hard work that saw the city send the most number of boxers to the 1948 Olympics.
Before independence, boxing was pursued by the Army but Roy’s efforts saw the sport spread among civilians.
He opened a training centre while working for Bengal Railways, and organised the first inter-railway championship in 1928. The same year he founded the Bengal
Boxing Association, 21
MISSING OUT
Despite the performance at the 1952 Olympics, there was no Indian boxer at the Games from 1956 to 1968. Padam Bahadur Mall won the country’s first gold at the 1962 Asian Games and was a medal prospect at the 1964
DINGKO SETS TREND
Before India won Olympic medals in boxing (Vijender in 2008 and Mary Kom in 2012), the defining moment came in 1998 when Navy boxer Dingko Singh ended a 16-year-old Asian Games goldmedal drought.
The medal also changed the face of boxing in the North East. The country’s first woman Olympic medallist in boxing, Mary Kom, who also hails from Manipur, took up the sport after being inspired by Dingko’s feat.
Suranjoy Singh, the 2010 Asian Games medallist, London Olympian Devendro Singh and Rio squad member Shiva Thapa are part of the boxing revolution in the North East.
Later, Mary Kom and L Sarita’s World Championship triumphs inspired girls in the region to take up the sport seriously.
It was because of Hawa Singh and Mehtab Singh that Bhiwani came into the limelight. After retiring from the Army, Hawa joined the Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Bhiwani centre in 1985 and was a coach there till 1996. He had a role in building the centre’s rich legacy. Of the four-member squad at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Akhil Kumar, Vijender Singh and Jitender Kumar were the products of the SAI centre in Bhiwani and Bhiwani Boxing Club (BBC).
At Beijing, where Vijender scripted history by becoming the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal, Akhil, Vijender, Jitender and Dinesh Kumar were from BBC. Because of Bhiwani the sport spread to other parts of the state and now Haryana churns out a steady stream of boxers. At Rio, of the three boxers, two are from Haryana. Vikas Krishan is from Bhiwani while Manoj Kumar is from Kaithal. Shiva Thapa hails from Assam. Since making its boxing debut at the 1948 Olympics, India has seen a number of stars make their mark
The young breed is training hard, but absence of the national championship has prevented them from graduating to the next level. All the three who are going to Rio competed in London, so there is no new entrant to the Olympic squad