Coach Manoharan confident of good performance at YWC

The India national youth boxing squad is all geared up to represent the country at the upcoming AIBA Youth World Championships which will be held in Armenia. The 2012 edition of the event will be organised by the Boxing Federation of Armenia from November 25th to December 8th, 2012 in the capital city of Yerevan. Welcoming international athletes in 10 weight categories, the championships allows young boxers of 17 and 18 years of age, to compete against the best in their division with hopes of international stardom.

The Indian performance graph, since the year 2000 has had an upward trend in the tournament and has witnessed India bag 2 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 3 bronze medals in the last six editions of the biennial event. In 2008 Nanao Singh created history by becoming the first Indian boxer to win a gold medal at the inaugural Youth World Championships (formerly known as the AIBA World Cadet Championships). The previous edition, in 2010, Indian pugilists went one step further; Vikas Krishan (60kg) won the light weight title, while Shiva Thapa (54kg) finished with a silver medal performance – Indian was ranked fourth that year. Looking at the past records the expectations from the Indian contingent will be, to at best equal the 2010 performances, if not to better it.

The current Indian Junior/Youth squad is in the last leg of its preparation for the premier event at the SAI Western Training Centre in Aurangabad, under the supervision of Coach-in-charge G Manoharan. The talented group of pugilists will be attending their first World Championship, where representatives from five continents will be present. Despite fielding a young and a fresh batch of boxers Coach Manoharan is confident of a positive result. He believes what the players lack in experience they make up for in skill and motivation. The veteran coach stated, “We have young team and they haven’t had much exposure at the international level. But we have worked very hard in the training camp I am positive that we will reach the medal rounds in at least three weight categories if not more”. Talking about the recent performance of the Indian Youth team, Manoharan said, “We did quite well at the recently concluded 33rd International Tammer Tournament in Finland and that gives us a good indication of skill set our boxers possess and how they perform against tough opposition.

Leading the Indian charge will be 17 year old Lalitha P Prasad (49 Kg) in light fly weight division. The nimble footed youngster, who is product of the Boys Sports Company in Pune, has great potential and the capabilities to cause major upsets in the tournament. He won the light fly weight title at the 2012 Tammer International tournament. Dheeraj Singh (49 Kg), another services boxer, will stake a claim for the yellow metal in the light fly weight division. Dheeraj, who recently turned 18, won a bronze medal winner at the 2011 Agalarov Cup in Azerbaijan and in Finland he went one step further to bring home the silver medal. The complete squad is as follows:

Indian Boxing team for the AIBA Youth World Championship
S. No		Wt Cat		Name		Unit
1		Light Fly Weight (49Kg)		Lalitha P Prasad		SSCB
2		Fly Weight (52Kg)		Dheeraj		SSCB
3		Bantan Weight (56Kg)		Mohammed Hussain		SSCB
4		Light Weight (60Kg)		Nagesh Kharare		MAH
5		Light Welter Weight (64Kg)		Deepak Tanwar		SSCB
6		Welter Weight (69Kg)		Manjeet Singh Panghal		HAR
7		Middle Weight (75kg)		Sandeep		HAR
8		Light Heavy Weight (81kg)		Naveen Kumar		HAR
9		Heavy Weight (91kg)		Amrit Preet Singh		PUN
10		Super Heavy Weight (+91kg)		Narender		HAR
Support Staff
1		G Manoharan		Head Coach
2		Lalit Prasad		Coach
3		Suresh Bhettan		Coach
4		Biji Lal		Coach
5		Dr Nirmolak Singh		Doctor

About the event

Following the great success of the previous edition of the event, which saw a significant increase in the participation and performance levels – with 466 boxers from over 100 countries – the 2012 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships will once again witness the best youth boxers in the world. The Championships, held every two years, began in 1979 in Yokohama, Japan, formerly called the AIBA World Cadet Championships, the event evolved into its current avatar in 2008 with Mexico hosting the inaugural edition. The 2008 and the 2010 Youth World Championships had competition in 11 weight categories, this year though the weight classification has been brought down to 10 (46kg-49kg, 52kg, 56kg, 60kg, 64kg, 69kg, 75kg, 81kg, 91kg, 91+kg), similar to the senior level competition.