PANJIM: Boxing is the only sport in which Goa won a medal in the last couple of National Games. In Gujarat, Goa won a bronze in the 75kg category.
The Goa Amateur Boxing Association is keen to field competitors in all categories – 12 in men and eight in women and preparations are expected to start in April or May once the exams are over.
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Danuska da Gama, GABA Treasurer said: “Our boxers reach the quarters or pre-quarters and then they drop out. It is now important that we win medals, even tough Goa doesn’t have as many boxers as we would like to have, like in the 91-plus category.”
The association plans to have special summer residential camps to tap potential and to ensure Goans win medals. “We want our Goan boxers to have exposure training with the Army boxers. We would like to invite boxers from states like Punjab so as to assess the capacity. That apart, we plan to rope in a video analyst from Patiala for individual sports analysis.”
Coach Chitamber Naik said the state had been winning medals in boxing in every edition of the National Games. In Gujarat, Goa’s Pushpinder Rathi won a bronze in in 75kg weight category. In Assam in 2007, Goa won two medals, in 2011 Goa won a silver and a bronze and In Kerala, Goa won a bronze.
Coach Santosh felt that Goan boxers had a chance of making it to the podium and perhaps even win a gold, but for that to happen, he opined that the boxers need to get the best of facilities inclusive of sparring partners at practice sessions.
Boxing is a contact sport calling for special equipment especially as far as school and college students go, which sometimes is not easily available. That apart, the training needs to be conducted in two rigorous sessions in a week, in the absence of which one could resort to shortcuts, which in the ultimate analysis would affect performance.
