 |
| Shiva Thapa an Indian Gorkha Boxer |
Gone are the days of Akhils and Suranjoys; Beijing Olympic medallist Vijender Singh is the sole survivor of that generation trading punches for a piece of metal. Shiva Thapa, Devendro Singh, Mandeep Jangra are some of the pugilists who have hogged the limelight this year. Of the lot, Shiva has shown promise when he struck gold, youngest and third Indian to do so, at the Asian Championships.
If the boxing officials have pegged India back in the performance ladder, it is Thapa and Co’s stellar efforts on the international circuit that brought cheer to Indian boxing. Entering only his third season as a senior, Thapa has already become a household name. He has to his credit, some achievements which a boxer can only dream of at the start of the career. From being the youngest to represent India at the London Olympics to the youngest gold medalist at the Asian Boxing Championships, he has seen it all.
But Thapa is not letting all the success and adulation get to his head. “After a week’s rest at home I’m back in training to iron out the glitches in my technique. This is the right time to analyse my performance and work hard to get better. Sometimes, excess of rest can lead to a downfall in your performance. I do not want that to happen and want to be on the top of my game when I represent the country.”
Always touted as the next big thing in Indian boxing, Thapa is not content with whatever ‘little’ success that has come his way. His gung-ho attitude and aggression in the boxing ring has made him one of the fiercest competitors in his category. Also, with his remarkable consistency in the ring, he is now ranked No. 3 in the world.
“All in all, it was a good year for me. It could have been better had I won the World Championships in Almaty. I was hoping for a gold but lost my quarterfinal bout to the eventual winner. This just shows there is still a lot of scope for improvement,” admits Thapa. Asked whether playing without the headguard was a factor in his World Championship loss, he replied in the affirmative. “This was the first time we were playing without the guard, so I was a bit more cautious. But I have learnt from my mistakes and would try not to repeat them.”
But all that is over now. Thapa is all pumped up for the next year, bracing to spin more success stories. “I have my goals set for 2014. I would like to get gold in Asian and the Commonwealth games and am working very hard for it,” he sums up. He is young and has only started to spread his wings. With Commonwealth and Asian Games challenges staring at him, Thapa is ready to fly.
Source : newindianexpress
