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The Indian boxing team continued to sweat it out in their practice sessions in Birmingham ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games on Monday.
The Indian team comprises of four women and eight men boxers. Among them Amit Panghal, Ashish Kumar Chaudhary, Sanjeet and Mohammad Hussamuddin started shadow boxing under the watchful eye of boxing coach Dharmendra Singh Yadav.
"The preparation for Commonwealth Games in Birmingham is going on very well. All the eight boxers have worked very hard. The experience under the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), Sports Authority of India (SAI), and Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NIS) Patiala, where a coaching camp was organized, was amazing amidst COVID-19 restrictions. From the administration's point of view, everything was managed properly including maintenance of equipments, coaching etc. Everything was organized well, " India men's boxing coach Narendra Rana told ANI.
The Indian boxers had trained in Belfast for two weeks ahead of their arrival in Birmingham.
"Training in Ireland was great for our boxers. Especially, training in such a climate is challenging to ensure good performance. The way we trained in Ireland for 13 days will hopefully have a positive impact in the games," Rana added.
The India women pugilists also sweated it out at their training session. Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Bargohain did some shadow boxing and along with gym exercises under the watchful eyes of women's head coach Bhaskar Bhatt, while reigning World champion Nikhat Zareen warmed up with some skipping exercises.
The Indian men's team coach is confident that all the boxers have the potential to win a medal in the quadrennial event.
"We will win a medal 100 per cent. Undoubtedly. The coaches, the supporting staff and the effort put by boxers are 100 per cent. Let's see what happens next. A lot depends on luck as well as the draws and byes which make a lot of difference. The expectations are very high. All the eight boxers can win medals. All of them have the capability to win a medal, " said boxing coach Narendra Rana.
The Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 will be held from July 28 to August 8.
The Indian pugilists' best-ever CWG show came in 2018 where six-time world champion Mary Kom became the first woman boxer from the country to win the title and all the male boxers returned with a medal around their necks.
The Indian boxers returned with a record haul of three gold, three silver and three bronze medals and the aim will be to better last edition's result. But that is easier said than done as overcoming boxers from England, Ireland, Australia will be a challenging task.