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SPORTS
‘We are ready for the challenge’
Amit Kumar
Rupinder Singh is the Vice-Captain of the Indian hockey team for the World Cup (May 31-June 15) to be held in the Netherlands |
He is regarded as one of
the best drag flickers. India's Vice-Captain for the forthcoming World
Cup (May31-June15) to be held in the Netherlands, Rupinder Pal
Singh has improved vastly over the last year. Central to the team's
plans, his strong tackling and accuracy are his forte. With 83 caps
already under his belt, he is confident of a good showing but does not
want to be over confident.
What are India's
chances?
We have been preparing
very hard for the World Cup and we are going to put in our best.
Nothing is going to be easy but we are excited and ready for the
challenge. Personally, I have set a top-six finish as my target. In
the preparation camp, all players have shown significant improvement
as a unit and everyone is geared up to take on the challenges at the
big stage. It is an honour to be the vice-captain of the national
side.
During practice with Captain Sardar Singh |
Head coach Terry
Walsh had expressed his displeasure over having the preparatory camp
in the heat of Delhi?
He was misinterpreted.
The camp has been a success and everyone is focusing on the job ahead.
Terry has helped us immensely with his focus on psychological aspects
of the game and there is visible overall development. There has been
special attention on improving the mental strength.
Will adjusting to
Holland weather be easy?
I know it has been made
out to be an issue, but at this level you are expected to acclimatise
fast. And in any case we are reaching there some days in advance. It
is expected to be around 20`B0C there but it should not be any
problem. We had toured Holland and Belgium last month. The experience
will stand us in good stead. It is important for us to start well.
But the European tour
was disappointing on the field?
That will be a bit harsh
on the players. We fought well. The experience we gathered is
definitely going to help us this time. The practice matches against
Argentina and South Africa are crucial in start up to the tournament.
How tough is the
group?
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It is all in
numbers
n
India have won the
maximum number of Olympic hockey medals - 8 gold, 1 silver and 2
bronze. They are currently ranked eighth in the world. Leading
from the bench at the 13th edition of men's World Cup will be
head coach Terry Walsh and head of high performance Roel Oltmann.
Setting the example from the pitch will be the creative
midfielder and captain Sardar Singh.
n
It will be the
second time when both the men's and women's World Cups have been
held at the same time and at the same location. Last time it
happened in 1998 at Netherlands only.
n
Six matches will be
played daily in the pool phase running until 10 June, reducing
to four during the knock-out phases. Women's final will be
played on June 14th. |
We are in group A with
Australia, Belgium, England, Spain and Malaysia. Defending champions
Australia are going to be toughest bet in the group clashes. But we
have four matches before we play them. We will take one match at a
time as it helps you to soak pressure.
How do you see the
composition of the team?
A: It is arguably the
best we could have picked. There is enough experience with the likes
of Sardar, Gurbaz, Sunil, and Raghunath. All are fit and raring to go.
We have seen a number
of coaches in the past few years. From Harendra Sigh, Brasa, Nobbs and
now Walsh and Oltmans, how tough is it to adjust?
It depends. Once you
have played for three to five years at the national level, you know
your strengths and weaknesses very well. You understand your body. The
coach only tells you what to do and you know how to do it. We always
have had assistant coaches who translate things for us and language or
culture has never been an issue.
What does the sport
lack in India?
Things have improved
now. The infrastructure and facilities are like never before. The
exposure is bound to have a domino effect. With Asian Games and
Commonwealth Games this year, a good show is bound to get people
attracted to hockey once again.
Which other sport you
follow?
Soccer. Rooney and
Gerrard are my favourites.
How do you de-stress?
I watch soccer and
listen to Punjabi songs.
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Packing a mean punch
A core group of 42 boxers has been selected ahead of the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games
Gagan K. Teja
Olympian Vijender Singh and (below) boxer Manoj Kumar photos: Rajesh Sachar |
With
the Indian Boxing Federation announcing the 42-member core-group
probables for the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Asian Games,
the stage is set for a fierce battle not only at the
international level but in the domestic circle as these
probables will now have to fight a tough fight among themselves
to make final cut for these tournaments.
The core group
is a blend of the experienced boxers like Olympic medallist
Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar, Dinesh Kumar and some other
talented youngsters Sukhdeep Singh and Mandeep. Other big names
in the list include 2010 Asian Games gold medallist Vikas
Krishan, Youth Olympics medallist Shiva Thapa, former junior
world champion Nanao Singh and L. Devendro Singh.
The selection
trials were held at NIS, Patiala, by the selection committee
constituting Rajendra Prasad, Deverajan, Jitendra Kumar,
Mohammed Ali Qamar, Mehtaab Singh recently amid much fanfare.
The AIBA's
(International Boxing Association (amateur) new rule of doing
away with the headgear was in place during the trials that were
held as per the fresh changes made by AIBA as far as scoring and
refereeship are concerned and witnessed a stiff competition.
However, there were hardly any upsets. All main boxers have made
their way to the core group and there has not been any major
eviction from the core group.
After
shortlisting the core group, the coaches are hopeful that the
training of the probables is going to pick up pace. Coach Gurbax
Singh Sandhu said, "We have fantastic boxers in each weight
category and it is really difficult to say as to who is the
best. They all have proved their mettle time and again and
anyone can defeat the other on any given day. So, we have
included all deserving boxers to ensure that everyone gets best
sparring partners. Every boxer has a unique fighting style and
thus it enables each of them to play different type of a game
and learn how to handle different techniques," added Sandhu.
The boxers, on
the other hand, are equally thrilled about their selection and
are now gearing up for a bigger game. Olympian Vijender Singh
has returned to the ring after completing the shooting of his
Bollywood debut film Fugly. He says the youngsters are
very talented and despite his experience, he has been working
really hard to maintain his momentum.
Vikas Krishan, who has been
selected along with Dheeraj, Vikas Malik, Rohit Tokas and Anil
Kumar in 60-kg weight category, says all boxers are of equal
calibre and making to the core group wasn't easy. "However,
the real fight begins now as the final trials for the
Commonwealth Games will be held shortly. I am working day and
night to make the final cut," he added. |
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Core
group
49 kg: L Devendro
Singh, Amandeep Singh, Pankaj Saini and Nanao Singh
52 kg: Madan Lal,
Santosh Harijan, Gaurav Bidhuri and Sunil
56 kg: Shiva Thapa,
Mohammed Husamuddin, Aman Indora and V Durga Rao
60 kg: Dheeraj,
Vikas Malik, Rohit Tokas, Anil Kumar and Akhil Kumar
64 kg: Manoj
Kumar, Sandeep Kumar, Deepak Tanwar and Narender Singh
69 kg: Mandeep
Jangra, Manjit, Dilbagh Singh and Vijay
75 kg: Vikas
Krishan, Vijender Singh, Sukhdeep Singh and Jagat Singh
81 kg: Sumit
Sangwan, Kuldeep Singh, Jagroop Singh and Harjinder Singh
91 kg: Dinesh
Kumar, Amritpreet Singh, Manpreet Singh and Jasveer Singh
(+91kg): Satish Kumar, Praveen Kumar, K P Singh, Narender and
Manjeet Singh
Reserve: Manish Pawar (69kg);
Harpal Singh (75kg); Abhishek Beniwal (81kg). |
Return
of the fighter
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Akhil Kumar
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Having mesmerised
everybody with his aggressive fighting style and quick moves
during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Akhil Kumar had been forced
into oblivion due to his injuries in the past two years. Ahead
of the 2012 London Olympics, he sustained a tear in his calf
muscle ahead of the final trials and could not recover. His
London Olympics dream was shattered.
Akhil then decided
to proceed for his one-year police training and join his duty
but destiny had different plans for him. During training, he met
Commonwealth gold medallist wrestlers Ravinder Singh Sangwan and
Amit Dhankar who motivated him to restart his training. Once he
was "literally" pushed back into the groove, things
started falling in place. However, the biggest motivation came
when the International Boxing Association's decided to increase
the upper-age limit of boxers for Olympics from 34 to 40 years
and that's when the 33-year-old finally decided to get back into
the ring.
On completion of
his training, instead of joining duty, he headed to NIS Patiala
to get back into the ring. After months of hard work, he has
finally returned to the 42-member core group for the
Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
Akhil feels that
he is ready to put behind his injury woes and fight hard.
"I cannot thank my coaches enough. Chief coach GS Sandhu
and Cuban coach BI Fernandez have shown immense faith in my
ability and backed me up which helped me push my limits further.
Coaches Jaidev Bisht and Amrik Singh played a massive role in
keeping me fit as did Dr Sanjay Vats from Delhi, who has been
working on getting my body back into the shape. He,too, has
played a tremendous role in my rehabilitation process,"
added the veteran boxer. |
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