Expect women boxers to do better than before in the Paris Olympics, maybe get a gold: Vijender Singh

Vijender Singh expects Indian women boxers to shine at Paris Olympics, aiming for two podium finishes.

India's boxing medal hopes at the Paris Games will hinge on how its women pugilists perform, feels the country's lone Olympic medal-winning male boxer Vijender Singh, who expects the Nikhat Zareen-led squad to fetch at least two podium finishes.

Zareen (50kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Jaismine Lamboria (57kg) and Tokyo bronze-winner Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) make up the Indian women's squad, while Amit Panghal (51kg) and debutant Nishant Dev (71kg) are the two male boxers to have qualified for Paris.

In a free-wheeling interview to PTI editors at its headquarters, the 38-year-old Vijender, who won a bronze in the 2008 Beijing Games, said he expects the women to do well.

"I haven't really followed the fortunes of the male boxers but whatever I have read about women boxers has been encouraging. The girls will do well, I hope we get one or two medals. It could be a silver or may be even a gold," Vijender, who is also a BJP leader, said.

"It might be that they (the women boxers) will change the colour of the medals," he added.

Besides Vijender, only two other Indian boxers — MC Mary Kom (London 2012) and Borgohain (Tokyo 2021) — have won bronze medals at the Olympics, but none from the country has managed to reach the final and fight for gold.

The women boxers have done exceedingly well in the run-up to the Games with Zareen and Borgohain becoming world champions in 2023 and Pawar and Lamoboria picking up bronze medals at the Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games.