Maharashtra Herald, September 15, 2007

Delivering the knockout punch


Suhrid Barua
suhridb@sakalherald.com

Pune: If he is experiencing a top of the world feeling, you can hardly accuse him of being cocky. Boxing prodigy Vikas Yadav has every reason to count the accolades coming his way after punching to glory in the World Cadet Boxing Championships held at Baku, Azerbaijan recently. A product of Pune-based Army Sports Institute, Vikas may have been an unknown commodity before he embarked for the World Championships, but after outboxing Ciprian Apodaresei of Romania to win the 48kg gold, the young lad has ensured enough newsprint would be reserved for him.
"I’m so used to the media writing only about our cricketers. Boxers hardly get any attention unless they do something spectacular on the world stage. So, it’s a nice feeling to know that people are recognising my feat in Baku," Vikas told the Herald in an informal chat.
The 15-year-old Bhiwani lad recounts his red-letter day in Baku. "I started my early rounds on a scratchy note. The final bout was pretty tight. I got little jittery by the early onslaught from Ciprin, but fought back to settle the issue in my favour," said the talented pugilist, who has been attached with ASI, Pune since 2006.
Like the hallmark of a true champion, Vikas attributes his momentous day to coach Rajendra More. "I feel, the credit for bagging this world crown goes to him," he remarked with a tinge of gratitude. And there are no prizes for guessing why he sees Commonwealth Champion Som Bahadur Pun as his role model. "I box the same way like he does. I always try to imbibe his boxing attributes," he opined.
Vikas is now setting his sights on winning a coveted gold in the 2012 London Olympics. "I want to keep training hard and make the most of all the international exposure. Obviously, a gold in the 2012 Olympics is my dream and I will give my best shot to achieve that."