03 April,2021 11:53 AM IST | Mumbai | Ronald Chettiar
Ankit Narwal
Asian Youth Championship silver-medallist Ankit Narwal (64kg), who will be spearheading the men's team in the upcoming AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Poland from April 10-24, says though his primary goal is to win gold, he is also keen to emerge as a better fighter from the tournament.
Narwal, 19, who won silver at the 2019 Youth Asian Boxing Championship in Mongolia, said he wants to be remembered as the best fighter in the upcoming tournament.
"Of course, my main goal is to win the gold medal, but I want to emerge a better boxer as well as want to be known as the best pugilist of the tournament," Narwal told mid-day.com before leaving for a 10-day preparatory camp in Wladyslawowo, Poland.
Narwal is aware of the expectations to win the gold medal, but the young pugilist is not considering it as pressure to perform.
"I know everyone is expecting a gold from me, but I don't see it as pressure. I see it as a privilege that I'm getting to represent my country and being in a position to fight for gold for my country. Previously too, I have brought glory to the country and in the coming tournament also I'll try to make my nation proud," said the 2017 Jr Asian Boxing Championship bronze-medallist.
Talking about his preparations for the championships, the 2020 Khelo India Youth Games gold-medallist, said he had a hard time training due to the Coronavirus-caused break.
"I have been working on my technique specifically for the world championships. But due to COVID-19, I had to face a lot of disruptions in my training last year as we had to spend a lot of time in quarantine," said the pugilist, who won his first junior national gold in 2017 at Guwahati.
The Haryana-based pugilist participated in the Adriatic Pearl tournament in Montenegro last February - his first event after the COVID break, where he reached the quarter-finals.
"My performance in Montenegro has helped my confidence. My win over Uzbekistan boxer [Lazizbel Fattoev, 5-0] in the pre-quarters was morale-boosting. Had I participated in the world championships directly after the break, it would have been difficult, said Narwal, who started boxing in 2013.
Besides Narwal, the men's team features, Asian junior champion Chongtham Bishwamitra (49kg), Vikas (52), Sachin (56kg), Akash Gorkha (60kg), Sumit (69kg), Manish (75kg), Vinit (81 kg), Vishal Gupta (91kg) and Jugnoo (+91kg).
The women's team includes 2019 Asian Youth champion Naorem Chanu (51kg), Vinka (60kg), Sanamacha Chanu (75kg), Alfiya Pathan (+81kg) and three-time Khelo India gold-medallist Arundhati Choudhary (69kg).
Nawal exuded confidence while talking about the squad and reckoned the team will win medals galore in Poland.
"The squad is very good. All the kids are very talented. Most of them have won tournaments in the past. I'm sure we will be able a win lot of medals," he signed off.
