All but written off after a string of injuries wrecked havoc on his career four years ago, enigmatic boxer Akhil Kumar today staged a remarkable comeback to make the 10-member Indian men’s team for the Asian Games scheduled to be held from September 19 in Incheon, Korea.
The 33-year-old, who rose to fame in the bantamweight 56kg category, has moved up a division to 60kg for the September 19 to October 4 event, the two-day trials for which ended in Patiala today.
In the women’s team, five-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) has made the cut, putting behind the disappointment of her omission from the Commonwealth Games squad. She had lost to eventual bronze-medallist Pinki Jangra in the trials. CWG silver-medallist l Sarita Devi took the 60kg spot as expected.
But the star of the day was undoubtedly the comeback-man Akhil, a 2006 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist and 2008 Olympic quarter-finalist, who had been laid low by a string of injuries, which forced him to skip the trials for the 2012 london Olympics. But the experienced pugilist’s never-say-die spirit finally paid off as he impressed one and all at the Asian Games trials in Patiala.
Akhil got the better of medallist Vikas Malik in a convincing manner before winning the final bout against Rohit Tokas on Wednesday.
The rest of the men’s team does not offer too many surprises. Commonwealth Games silver-medallists l Devendro Singh (49kg), Mandeep Jangra (69kg) have expectedly made the cut.
Teams for Asian Games
Men: l Devendro Singh (49kg), Gaurav Bhiduri (52kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg), Akhil Kumar (60kg), Manoj Kumar (64kg), Mandeep Jangra (69kg), Vikas Krishan (75kg), Kuldeep Singh (81kg), Amritpreet Singh (91kg), Satish Kumar (+91kg).
Women: M C Mary Kom (51kg), l Sarita Devi (60kg), Pooja Rani (75kg).