Jai Hind: Proud to be an Indian

Indian boxing sensation Akhil kumar scripted Olympic history by beating the World No.1 Sergey Vodopyanov of Russia in the bantam weight 54Kg category. After beating the Boxing Champion Akhil has now moved into the last 8 of the 54 Kg category.
Akhil’s win came as a huge upset as he beat the World Champion who was expected to sail through easily into the quarter finals. But Akhil’s spirited performance ended the russian’s hopes as Vodopyanov was left in the tears at the end of the bout. Both the boxers were locked at 9-9 at the end of the four rounds but the judges decided to award Akhil kumar the win. Vodpyanov was the best bet for the Russians to get a gold in the Beijing Olympics as he was World Champion but Akhil Kumar’s grit and determination saw him cause the biggest upset of the Olympics.
Akhil’s first round win had announced his arrival at the Beijing Olympics with his 12-5 victory over Ali Hallab of France. Ali was ranked third in the World and this victory would surely have increased the confidence of the Indian boxer as he faced the World Champion. Akhil had earlier said that on the occasion of independence Day he woul like to make all the Indians sit up and take notice. Not just the Indians, the entire World is in awe of this young boxers talent. A veteran from the 2004 Athens Olympics, Akhil had made a hasty exit in the first round of the previous edition of the Olympics but he went on to script history today by beating the World Number 1 and making it to the Quarter finals.
Abhinav Bindra’s victory had shown that getting an individual Gold at the Olympics is well within the reach of the Indian contingent. Kumar’s win will surely lift the mood of the Indian contingent at Beijing after Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi lost to the Swiss pair in the quarter finals of the doubles event. And the Indians can expect another medal coming from Akhil’s victory today as he beat the World Number 1. The Indian pugilist had set his eyes only for the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics and after his impressive show in the first two rounds which includes beating the third ranked as well as the World number 1, it can be said for sure that he has the confidence and the talent to get us a Gold.
Akhil had earlier won the 2006 commonwealth games gold medal and had also beaten the Athens Olympics World Champion Worapoj Pitchkoom of Thailand in the qualifying round of the Beijing Olmpics. A member of the Indian railways, Akhil was also adjudged the best boxer at the Asian Olympics qualifiers. He had earlier said that beating the World Number 1 early in the tournament will get him a lot of satisfaction. Akhil believes that True dreams are not the ones that you get in your sleep, but the ones that don’t let you sleep. For now Akhil has his eyes set on the Olympic Gold and going by his recent performance it doesn’t seem to be too far away.