A day after he became the 3rd Indian pugilist to book a 2016 Olympics date at Rio de Janeiro, 2010 Asian Games gold medallist Vikas Krishan’s run at the International Boxing Association’s World Qualifying Tournament at Baku, Azerbaijan was cut short by an injury problem that deemed him unfit to take part in today’s semi-final clash.
On Thursday, the Haryana boxer had defeated Korea’s Lee Dongyun in convincing fashion in their quarter-final encounter to seal his berth in the 75 kg category at the Rio Olympics 2016. However, in the process, Vikas had picked up a deep cut on his forehead which then necessitated stitches that were enough to see him get ruled out of his semi-final matchup against Turkmenistan's Achilov Arslanbek.
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Since Vikas will now play no further part in the competition, he will have to settle for the Bronze medal which would seem a decent bargain since the all-important Olympic quota has been achieved. Incidentally, Vikas Krishan features in the 75 kg category which is the same as that of Beijing 2008 bronze winner Vijender Singh. A solitary berth being available for each country in the respective weight categories, this has shut the doors on any possibility for the now professional turned Vijender to make an attempt to participate in Rio 2016.
Apart from Vikas, Shiva Thapa in Bantamweight and Manoj Kumar in Light Welterweight are the two Indians to have qualified for this year’s Olympics. Laishram Devendro Singh’s outcome is still awaited as he takes the stage later today against Carmona Heredia Samuel of Spain in the semifinals of the Light Flyweight qualifiers, thus placing him one win away from being the 4th boxer from India to make the cut for Rio.
