Indians To Watch Out For: Vikas Krishan
Indian boxing has seen a lot of success in recent years. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, India saw the emergence of a superstar by the name of Vijender Singh. History may repeat in Rio 2016 Olympics Game as another Bhiwani lad is gunning for Olympic glory. And he is Vikas Krishan Yadav.
Qualification
He missed the opportunity to qualify at the 2015 World Championships and then the Asia-Oceania qualifiers in 2016.
Vikas Krishan grabbed an Olympic berth with a bronze-medal victory at the 2016 AIBA World Qualifying Tournament at Baku, Azerbaijan, in the middleweight category. He will compete in the 75kg category, the same category where Vijender Singh won an Olympic bronze medal in 2008.
Earning the spotlight
Vikas, a 2012 Arjuna Award winner has won a lot of bouts in his short career. He won his first major in the lightweight category at the 2010 Asian games defeating Hu Qing of China. At the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships, Vikas earned himself a bronze medal in the Welterweight category.
Four years ago at the 2012 London Olympics, the then 20-year-old welterweight thought he had clinched a place in the quarter-finals of the tournament after beating American Errol Spence. However, his joy was overturned when amateur boxing’s governing body AIBA reviewed the video footage declaring Spence as the winner.
Events | Result |
2010 Asian Games | Gold Medal |
2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships | Bronze Medal |
2014 Asian Games | Bronze Medal |
2015 Asian Boxing Championships | Silver |
Representing India at the 2014 Asian Games, he won the Bronze Medal in the Middleweight (75 kg) category. The following year he managed to to win the silver medal at the Asian Boxing Championships.
Route to Rio
After the early exit from the 2012 Olympics, Vikas took a break to contemplate his future but came back strongly in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon where he won bronze. His second return to the ring has not been nearly as successful as the first. The rules of the game had changed.
Vikas Krishan will travel to Venezuela in order to get quality sparring. Terming Vikas a ‘sharp and intelligent’ boxer, national coach GS Sandhu says with experience, he’s grown wiser in strategies and stronger in mind. A scientific boxer with a lot of confidence in his abilities, it’s now largely a question of how the draw works out for Vikas at the Olympics. “I have a feeling that I will win a bronze medal at Rio Olympics. I am hoping to get a favourable draw as my world ranking is decent and hopefully won’t face tough boxers in my first two rounds,” He said confidently.
Medal Quest
Vikas Krishan is now 24 and going to represent India at the Rio Olympics. He is determined to give another boxing medal to his country that has given him immense love and support.