New Boxing Sensation Amit Phangal Is Our Best Bet For An Olympic Medal And He Wants A Personal Coach And Physio To Prepare Better

Amit Panghal is without a doubt our best boxing medal hope at the Olympics.

He's been on a roll since bagging silver at the Commonwealth Games then winning gold at the Asian Games.

But his dream of an Olympic gold is not as high as he would have wanted. Amit's preparation is taking a hit as he has no personal coach or for that matter a sports physiotherapist. He feels their presence would "strengthen the learning process" and "add value to the already solid coaching process at the national camp".

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Amit, who is world No. 1 in his weight category, has suggested the names of his childhood coach, Anil Kumar Dhankar - an NIS diploma holder in boxing and 'One Star' AIBA ranking coach - and veteran physio Dr Rohit Kashyap, who had earlier been associated with the senior men's boxing team at the NIS Patiala campus from July 2017 to June 2019.

TOI understands that Amit has approached the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) with his request on two separate occasions. Sources close to Amit said the boxer isn't complaining at all about the current coaching set-up and is comfortable training under chief foreign coach Santiago Nieva and other support staff members. It's just that Amit needs Dhankar and Kashyap by his side to give his Tokyo training and preparation a final push. While Dhankar has taught Amit finest nuances of boxing and nurtured him since his childhood, Kashyap has managed Amit's workload, rehabilitation and injury issues in the most comprehensive manner during his days at the camp.

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Some have found logic in Amit's request. "Chhote Lal Yadav is attached to the camp as an assistant coach catering to the needs of national campers, but primarily looking after the training of M C Mary Kom. Similarly, the BFI can rope in Dhankar and Kashyap, who can serve the national campers in all alertness, with the main focus on Amit's training and injury management," said a source.

However, BFI isn't playing ball for now. According to BFI officials, the federation's coaches' commission, headed by captain Jaslal Pradhan, will meet in Delhi on January 6 to shortlist candidates in various positions it had advertised on December 12 and, for which, the last date of submitting applications was Friday. For Dhankar, who is believed to have applied for the coaching position, needs to cross one major hurdle.

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The federation has cited a Sports Authority of India's eligibility criteria to engage coaches, which reads: "Coaches to be considered for elite (senior) camps must have at least three years' experience in training youth and junior boxers at camps organised by BFI."

Dhankar doesn't fulfil this requirement. However, he fulfils all other conditions, including "the NIS diploma, minimum AIBA Star 1 certification course and general sports experience of 10 years".