Will throw up a tough challenge in London Olympics: Sushil

INDORE: World wrestling champion Sushil Kumar, who skipped the Asian Games due to injuries on his neck and shoulders, has almost recovered and is now all set to throw up a tough challenge in 2012 London Olympics.

"I have almost recovered from my shoulder injury. After a fortnight I will start my training with an eye on the Olympics," Sushil, who came to attend a wrestling competition, told reporters on Tuesday's night.

"I will try to give an excellent performance in the Olympic ring," added the 27-year-old wrestler.

A bronze medallist in 66kg weight category at Beijing Olympics, Sushil said that he was happy that wrestling on mat has been gaining momentum in the country where traditionally the fights used to take place in soil.

He said that the fights on mats will brighten the Indian wrestlers' chances in excelling at international competitions.

"There is no dearth of wrestlers in the county," he said.

To a question, he said that the players should keep off from doping.

Sushil, who got engaged to Savi, daughter of his coach Satpal Singh on November 8, is getting ready for his marriage to be held on February 18.

The wrestler said he was entering into the wedlock as per his family's wishes, adding that his family members were taking care of all his marriage preparations.

"My entire focus was on wrestling," he said, adding, "I will just reach the venue dressed up like a bridegroom."

Sushil, who hails from a middle-class family, gets full support from his family members and it helps him in concentrating on wrestling.

"I am sure I will continue to get this support from my family after marriage too," he added.

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Brace up for glamorous women boxers in the ring

NEW DELHI: In a bid to get women’s boxing included in the 2012 London Olympics, the game’s governing body (AIBA) has decided to ‘sex up’ the sport. Taking a leaf out of beach-volleyball, which moved from T-shirts and long shorts to strictly-bikinis dress-code to beef up TRP ratings, the AIBA has commissioned some leading designers of the world with the job of creating a new dress code for the women boxers.

The AIBA is of the opinion that if it wants to make its ‘‘case stronger’’ in front of International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the upcoming meetings in June and October this year, it will have to present women’s boxing as a ‘‘popular sport".

And to popularise the sport, AIBA has realised it will have to make it ‘‘more attractive and viewer-friendly and not let the female boxers appear more like men in the ring" in order to achieve its end.

India’s MC MaryKom, the four-time women’s World boxing champion, laid out the pros and cons of the change in attire when the news was broken to her about AIBA’s intention. ‘‘I agree with the fact that our attire at the moment is boring and manly. And it irritates quite a few boxers because of it," the boxer told TOI from Imphal.

‘‘But the designers should keep in mind some of the conservative countries like India. Many boxers come from Mizoram and although they are quite cool with wearing trendy clothes in their normal lives, I’m sure they won’t be that comfortable when it comes to wearing ‘sexy dress’ in a sporting arena. I hope the AIBA will keep this in mind when it approves the design."

It might be recalled that Indian beach volleyball players refused to wear bikinis in the World Beach Volleyball tournament in Chennai last year because they thought it was ‘objectionable’. The players claimed that the skimpy outfits - mandatory dress - were against their tradition. As a result, the rules were relaxed for the Indian team and they were allowed to compete in T-shirts and long shorts.

‘‘AIBA’s argument on changing the dress-code in the recently-concluded meeting of Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) in China was that the women and men boxers look alike in the ring at the moment with their baggy-attires. Therefore the change of dress-code is essential," said PK Muralidharan Raja, secretary of the Indian Boxing Federation, who was present at the meeting.

‘‘It will help in grabbing more eyeballs which will in turn make the IOC look into the matter of including women’s boxing in Olympics with more seriousness. The fact is out of all the disciplines in the Olympics apart from boxing, every sport has women participating. The question is: Why should women’s boxing be left behind? In fact, in 1904 at St. Luis Games, women’s boxing was a demonstration event," Raja said.

The IOC has already looked into this matter and has proposed an initial plan of accepting 44 women boxers if the number of male boxers is correspondingly reduced from the present allotment of 286 at the Games. But it has not been finalised yet. The AIBA in the meantime is doing all it can to sell the dress code idea.

Source: http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Brace_up_for_glamorous_women_boxers/articleshow/3986175.cms