Akshay bags gold in Khelo India University Games

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Bhushan Saini kept a close watch on several boxers at the Khelo India University Games at the Jain University Global Campus here. In the Indoor Arena, the Indian youth boys assistant coach took the front row seats at times, passing some inputs from his position to boxers over the past few days. There were instances when he also got off his seat with excitement as some young guns put up a brilliant show.

On the final day of boxing (Thursday), there were 13 gold medals in the offing for men and some of the young boxers managed to grab them. The list includes Akshay Kumar (60-63.5kg) and Abhinash Jamwal (63.5-67kg) among others. Besides winning the yellow colour metal, many managed to leave an impression with their skills. After having watched closely, Saini personally believes Akshay was one of the best boxers in the Games and praised his ability to shine inside the ring with good stamina and fitness standards.

This praise does not come as a surprise with Akshay having previously won the bronze medal in the Asian Junior Boxing Championships in 2017. He has represented India in the Youth Asian Championships as well. The boxer from Bhiwani is expected to feature in the upcoming trials for the senior elite boxers next month, which is very important with the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games scheduled during the year. Things do not look any easy for Akshay in his weight category comprising some established names, including Manish Kaushik, Shiva Thapa among others.

“As of now, I will have to put my entire focus on the trials. In my weight category, there is some strong competition, with established and senior boxers like Kaushik and Thapa. I know, besides them, others are also there. I am ready to battle it out against them in the trials and deliver, hopefully. This trial is very important for me, but I will go into the trials confident after my gold here,” said 20-year-old Akshay.
Overall, Saini was all praise for some quality bouts in the championship, and felt that such kind of competitions like the KIUG will keep boxers in good shape too. “The future of boxing is quite bright. The juniors are also good. Eventually, it is these current youngsters, who are going to represent India for the next eight to ten years,” Saini said. “But they need to train hard. They have to work on their techniques, endurance and look to improve. There will be small defects in their game, and look into those areas to become a quality boxer.”