Rio is going to be my last Olympics; I feel that I will win a bronze medal, says Vikas Krishan
One of the 3 Indian boxers to have qualified for the Rio Olympics, Vikas Krishan has said that he has a good chance of winning a bronze medal at Rio, in what will be his last Olympics. The southpaw had qualified for the 2016 Olympics by winning the bronze medal at the AIBA Qualifying Tournament.
After qualifying for the Olympics last week, the 24-year-old seemed confident about his chances at the quadrennial event and said that he could win a bronze for the country.
"I have a feeling that I will win a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics. I will have to win two bouts to bag a bronze. I am hoping to get a favorable draw as my world ranking is decent and hopefully I won't face tough boxers in my first two rounds.
"The fact that I will be fighting in same category in which Vijender Singh had won a bronze, I have a strong feeling that I will also finish third. Vijender had won a bronze at the World Championship and so did I, while he had bagged a silver at Asian Championship and I also did the same," Vikas said, reported PTI.
Vikas, who had lost to Errol Spence of the USA in the 2012 London Olympics, added that his experience and confidence will help him win a medal this time around.
"For the London Olympics, I had qualified some eight months prior to the Games but failed to win a medal there. This time, there was a lot of tension as I had not qualified earlier, but that forced me to work very hard. I didn't rest for a single day. And that reflected in my results at Baku.
"I comfortably won three of my bouts, which were all one-sided. So, this time, I am better prepared and more confident. Moreover, compared to the last Olympics, I have a bagful of experience also. I'm determined to give my best at Rio as it is going to be my last Olympics, " Vikas was quoted as saying, by the PTI.
Vikas was declared medically unfit before his semi-final bout against Turkmenistan’s Achilov Arslanbek in the AIBA World Qualifying tournament, and had to concede the bout due to the cut he sustained during his 3-0 victory over Lee Dongyun in the quarter-finals. He had to settle for the bronze medal, but had already qualified for the Olympics by the virtue of his last-8 win. He said that he would rest for a couple of days before traveling to Venezuela for training.
"I am going to Venezuela on June 30 and will be there till July 10. I will not be able to take part in the competition there due to some rules, but will be looking to catch hold of some sparring partners to practice for the Rio Games. Some of the best boxers are suppose to be there," he told PTI.
Commenting on the relatively small three-man team as compared to the eight that had qualified for London 2012, Vikas said, “We have a small but a very good team. Both Shiva Thapa and Manoj Kumar are very good and capable of winning medals. In fact, those two can get gold."
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