I will happily take this bronze: Vikas
He could not better his senior Vijender Singh's feat but teen Indian boxer Vikas Krishan is still quite happy with the bronze medal he settled for at the World Championships as he feels he gave a good account of himself against older and experienced rivals.
Competing in his maiden senior World Championships, the 19-year-old had to be content with a bronze in Baku, Azerbaijan, which was India's lone medal at the event just like the last time around.
The country had managed a bronze in the previous edition two years ago as well through Olympian Vijender -- at that time a first for Indian boxing.
Vikas, playing his first tournament after jumping a couple of divisions to welterweight (69kg), lost to Ukraine's European Championship bronze-medallist Taras Shelestyuk 12-15.
During the event, he along with L Devendro Singh (49kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg), also qualified for next year's London Olympics by reaching the quarterfinals, making it the most successful World Championships for India.
"I am very satisfied with my performance as I competed against some very tough guys in my draw and given that it was my debut event in the welter weight division, I will happily take this bronze medal," Vikas told PTI from Baku.
The Asian Games gold-medallist in the light weight (60kg) division, jumped to welter weight just two months before the World Championships.
The Haryana-lad, who is a former youth world champion, said he felt a tad tired during his semifinal bout against a muscular 26-year-old rival.
"I was tired because jumping a couple of divisions and adjusting to it is no easy task. I know I could have performed better but everything is god's will and if he wanted a bronze for me, I would take that bronze," said the teenager, who has won admiration for his tactful boxing.
"My rival was a mature guy, who kept attacking me, drained my energy. I tried very hard in the first two rounds to work out a counter-strategy but it was not to be my day. In the final round, I took things as they came.
"It has been a fantastic learning experience and I am sure I will be going a step further when I compete in this event the next time. The big achievement here is that I have qualified for the Olympics and I can't be happier," added the boxer, who finished the final three minutes of his bout 6-5 ahead.
National coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu was also all praise for the teen, saying he is a future world champion.
"His ability belies his age, I am sure he will be a world champion the next time," said Sandhu.
"Even overall, I am very happy with my performance because four of my boxers (Vikas, L Devendro Singh, Jai Bhagwan and Manoj Kumar) qualified for the Olympics by reaching quarterfinals. It's a laudable performance and I am proud of them," he added.
