National Games: Manish won gold medal even after staying away from the ring for seven months due to injury. Loktej Sports News

Panaji, 9 November (HS). Returning to the ring after seven months due to injury, Olympian boxer Manish Kaushik reminded his critics of his skills by winning the gold medal in the men’s light welter weight category at the 37th National Games in Goa. He is looking forward to maintaining his momentum during his busy schedule going forward.

Battling injuries in L4 and L5, 2019 World Championships bronze medalist Manish has been out of the ring for quite some time during the 2023 season, especially after the Senior National Boxing Championships in which he lost to his rival and six-time Asian Championships medalist The winner had lost his men’s 63.5 kg semi-final against Shiv Thapa of Assam.

“It was a difficult period, I was suffering from severe disc pain,” he said. When I consulted the doctor, he advised complete rest to recover from this and did it for six-seven months. Apart from training, I could not participate in some important tournaments including the Hangzhou Asian Games. But at the same time I also had to get back fit.

After making a comeback at the 21st Mustafa Hajrulahovich Memorial Tournament in Zaragoza, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Manish won the gold medal in September. Since then, he has been training hard to prepare for the 37th National Games and then the Senior Men’s National Boxing Championship starting from November 24 in Shillong.

On his way to the gold medal at the Peddem Indoor Stadium in Goa, Manish faced a tough fight against host Goa’s young boxer Akash Gorkha, but he used his experience and won the match 4-1.

He said, “He (Aakash) is a very good boxer. And anyway one cannot expect a one-sided fight in the final, it was a good fight. I am happy that I was successful in winning the gold. Winning gold at the National Games is always special and will give me confidence before the National Games.” On securing the Paris Olympic quota, Manish said there will be no break before the National Championships as he will be competing in the Olympic Qualifiers to be held in Italy. We are eyeing a gold medal to make it to the top.

The 27-year-old boxer said, “Gold in the National Games is definitely going to boost my confidence. The National Championships will be challenging as it will be held in cold weather in Shillong in late November. So there will be no respite from training, as the target is to win a gold medal at the national level.” However, Manish, the 2021 World Championships bronze medalist, is aware of the challenge that awaits him at the national level. He is expected to face his rival and Olympian Thapa.

The two have been each other’s biggest rivals in recent years and have fought for supremacy to represent India in the light welterweight category. After Manish wins gold medal in the National Games, there could be a tough competition between the two in the Senior National Championship later this month.