Vijender wins gold at World Police Games

India's ace boxer Vijender Singh struck gold and also bagged the 'Best Boxer' award as Indian pugilists rounded off a reasonably successful campaign with two gold medals, a similar number of silver and a bronze medal at the World Police and Fire Games in New York.

Vijender (75kg), an Olympic and World Championship bronze medallist, was not the lone boxing gold medallist for India at the Games as Dinesh Kumar (81kg) also finished on top.

"The scale of competition is not that big here but it is always good to do well at an international event. Getting the Best Boxer award was nice. They have given me an LCD television as prize," Vijender said.

"Hurricane Irene had thrown the Games' schedule haywire but overall we were well taken care of. It was a good experience, it is nice to get this confidence before I head to the World Championships," he added.

The World Championships, scheduled from September 22 in Baku, Azerbaijan, is the first Olympic qualifying event.

Boxers, except those belonging to the heavyweight and superheavy weight category, can make the cut for Olympics by reaching the quarterfinals of the mega-event.

Photograph: Getty Images