Internet Desk: For the first time any Indian coach took the responsibility for dismal show of sports persons at Rio. Indian boxing coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu came forward without any alibi to take the responsibility for the poor show from the part of the Indian boxers.
“I am personally hurt and I take moral responsibility for this”, said Gurbax Sindh Sandhu.
Beside this Sandhu only blamed the mismanagement of Boxing Federation of India behind the dismal show of Indian boxers. According to him the hope over Indian boxers which has been raised since Vijender Singh won the maiden Bronze of Olympic as a boxer, is very evident. But how long the turmoil over the attitude of the federation will carry on, a better show will not be possible.
“It is my humble request, let us understand what is happening to our boxers, let us understand their suffering. We need to forget our egos. The first step towards making things right is to have an effective national federation because without a federation, we are orphans,” he quoted.
“Nothing can be built without a solid foundation; a smooth-functioning federation is a foundation for any sport. I repeat that without a federation, India will not have a voice in the international arena, no technical representation and that hurts our progress,” he added.
Sandhu, who has been with the national team for more than two decades, said on the upside, boxers got all the facilities they wanted to prepare for the Games but what they did not get was competitive foreign exposure. However, he blamed the suspension of India as the reason of India’s lack of attending international tournaments.
“Because of the suspension we were not being invited for those crucial training-cum-competition trips to Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan or Cuba where our boxers could test themselves against the best minus the pressure,” he said.
The Indian body has been suspended since December 2012 for not following proper procedures during polls in which it elevated previous president Abhay Singh Chautala to chairman of the body.
However, he did not favoured the boxers of India participated in Rio 2016. He only highlighted the tough draws the boxers faced in the Olympics.
“I feel my boys’ performance was satisfactory under the current circumstances and with the kind of tough draws they ended up getting”, explained Sandhu.
He also added, “The luck factor was totally zero this time for us. All my boys lost to eventual medallists. I am not trying to save anybody here but we have to be realistic. The draws were very tough”.