Manoj Kumar, 29 years
Boxing
Time: 5:00pm
Medal Prospects: Modest
Former Commonwealth Games Gold medallist Manoj Kumar will open his campaign on Wednesday against lithuania’s former Youth Olympics gold-medallist Evaldas Petrauskas. It will be a tough test for Kumar against Petrauskas, who had won a lightweight bronze medal in the 2012 Olympics.
Manoj Kumar secured his Rio Olympics berth by storming into semi-finals of the International Boxing Association’s World qualifying tournament. The 29-year-old pugilist from Haryana will be going to his second consecutive Games. In london 2012, he lost his pre-quarterfinal bout against World Number 1 Tom Stalker of Great Britain in a controversial manner.
Manoj Kumar Kaltagdia won a gold medal in the light welterweight division at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He competed in the World Championship in 2009, losing 4-5 to Brazilian Myke Carvalho in the first round. Though he did not proceed beyond the quaterfinals of the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, he managed to qualify for the 2012 london Olympics.