Indian boxers will improve medals tally at Asiad: Boxer Vikas Krishan Yadav
New Delhi, April 21: Praising his fellow boxers for their performance at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, star pugilist and gold medal winner Vikas Krishan Yadav asserted that the Indian squad will improve their medal haul at the Asian Games later this year.
India picked up nine boxing medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, earlier this month. All the eight Indian boxers in the men's categories finished on the podium while five-time world champion M.C. Mary Kom won gold in the women's 48 kg division.
Vikas was confident that Indian boxers will put up a much better show at this year's Asian Games than the 2014 edition, although he admitted that the standard will be much tougher than the Commonwealth Games.
"There is no comparison between the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. The Asiad is like a mini Olympics. Countries like Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Philippines, Mongolia, China and former Soviet nations like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are among the stronger nations in world boxing. The Asian Games is going to be much tougher. We will not get such easy competition like the Commonwealth Games," Vikas told IANS.
"But still we should improve our medal haul at the Asian Games, including at least one gold. Last time we got just two medals when Satish and I got bronzes in our respective categories. This time we should get four to five medals," he added.
However, the 26-year-old felt that with all eight Indian boxers among the men reaching the semi-finals of their respective categories, the number of gold medals should have been higher.
Gaurav Solanki, who emerged champion in the flyweight (52kg) division, was the only Indian apart from Vikas to win gold among the men.
"Overall performance was good, but we could have won more gold medals. Manish (Kaushik), Amit (Phangal) and Satish (Kumar) all lost by very small margins in their respective finals. All these finals were extremely close and could have gone either way," the Haryana pugilist said.
"The final bouts that our boxers won, like me and Gaurav Solanki, were by 5:0 margins. But the finals that we lost were by scores like 3:2. So the fact that five of our boxers did so well after reaching their respective finals reveals volumes of our high standards," he added.
Vikas, who won gold in the middleweight (75kg) category in Gold Coast, asserted that he did not face too much of a challenge on his way to the maiden Commonwealth Games title of his career.
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Pak, Afghan forces trade fire along Chaman border: Report
Islamabad (PTI): A heavy exchange of fire between Pakistani and Afghan forces was reported from the key Chaman border, according to a media report on Saturday.
Injuries were reported from the district hospital, but no fatalities occurred, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Officials from both sides accused each other of instigating the flare-up late on Friday night across the border in the Balochistan province.
While Pakistani officials said that Afghan forces had fired mortar shells on the Badani area, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid claimed it was Pakistan that launched an attack on Spin Boldak, alleging that their forces were responding.
Pakistan's official sources told Dawn that Pakistani forces retaliated against the Afghan aggression and returned fire.
There were also reports of fighting on the Chaman-Kandahar highway, but these could not be immediately verified.
A senior official in Quetta confirmed on condition of anonymity that the exchange of fire started around 10 pm and continued until late at night.
The medical superintendent of Chaman district hospital said that three injured, including a woman, were brought to the medical facility.
There was neither any official word from the Inter-Services Public Relations -- Pakistan Army's media wing -- nor from the Foreign Office.
The Chaman border crossing, also known as Friendship Gate, connects Balochistan province to Afghanistan’s Kandahar.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated amidst regular allegations by Pakistan regarding the failure of the Afghan regime to deny safe havens to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan terrorists.
The two countries had agreed on a ceasefire following tensions last month, but the Foreign Office said last month that technically there was no truce as it was contingent on the Afghan Taliban stopping terrorist attacks in Pakistan, which they had failed to do.
