Guwahati: When it comes to sports apart from cricket, one can safely say that some sports fare slightly better than others. For example, a Wushu athlete might struggle for adequate infrastructure, the same cannot be said for, say, Boxing. It has relatively good infrastructure, and a robust selection system, and has given us several medals at international events.
If you attended the trials in Guwahati ahead of the upcoming national boxing championships in December, you could be mistaken into believing that few, if any, consider boxing to be a serious sport.
What else explains the fact that as many as seven weight categories were decided without trials over the last two days at the SAI centre?
EastMojo learnt that medalists at the recently-concluded Asian championships, namely gold medallist Lovlina Borgohain (women’s 75kg), silver winner Shiva Thapa (men’s 63.5kg) and bronze medallist Ankushita Boro (women’s 66kg) were excused from the trials. But the lack of competitors in the other four women’s weight divisions means the wait to get a new female boxing star gets longer.
It would be pertinent to mention that a boxer, who had travelled from outside the state to take part in the trials, couldn’t find a competitor and qualified uncontested. Meanwhile, some of the other boxers expected to be a part of the state team are currently participating in the ongoing Railways meet in another corner of the city.
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The men’s boxing trials, however, witnessed stiff competition across all the weight divisions, barring the already decided 63.5 kg light welterweight category, in which Shiva will feature.
Some coaches at the trials expressed disappointment at the lack of competition in the women’s weight categories. Most expressed similar sentiments, and the common thread was the lack of permanent coaches even though the state has adequate infrastructure and boasts of top-class facilities in every centre.
“There is no wrong in expecting our established boxers to get the medals from the big-ticket tournaments, but when it comes to domestic events, the younger ones should come up and face the competition that will help them grow as boxers. There is no dearth of talent or infrastructure in the state, but the lack of permanent coaches has been a major drawback. In Guwahati, you have everything, but it isn’t possible for everyone to come here, and at the same time, the centres have a certain intake capacity,” one coach said on the condition of anonymity.
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Another coach, who has witnessed the progress of the trials from the sidelines, feels there is a lot of potential in the state. However, a lack of permanent coaches is pulling them back. He isn’t directly involved in the trials, but has to train the centre’s boxers.
“I have been to various centres across the country, and been in Assam for the past six months or so. From whatever I have seen here so far, I can bet on one thing, boxing is in the North East region’s blood, along with football. All these kids at the centre are going to make it big in the coming years, most of them have the right kind of physique and a proper fighter’s mindset,” he said.
“In boxing, there is no room for fear, it is all about defensive skills and the right technique to counterattack. Injuries are a part and parcel of any sport, more so in combat sport, and a broken nose is a small sacrifice to achieve something big,” he said with a wink.
Coming back to the point of adequate coaches in the state, the coach pointed out the case of boxing powerhouse Haryana, where there are hundreds of coaches spread across both government-run and privately-owned academies.
“If we have to establish ourselves as one of the forces in the sport, that’s the first step. Hire permanent coaches across all centres, back them up with private academies across the length and breadth of the state, make it affordable for all sections of the society, and wait for the outcome in the next five years,” he said, before rushing back to take part in the training session on Wednesday evening.
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