A bit of extra muscle can make Lovlina unbeatable: Geeta Chanu

Our Sports Reporter

GUWAHATI: She is associated with the women boxers of Assam for a long period. Geeta Chanu, former boxers from Manipur and current coach of State Sports Academy, is instrumental to shape the career of many top boxers of the state including Kalpana Chudhury, Pranamika Bora, Pwilao Basumatary, Bhagyabati Kachari and several others. In an interaction with The Sentinel on Saturday Chanu praised loudly on Lovlina's recent performance in Tokyo and also shared her views on other issues. Here is the excerpt.

The Sentinel (TS): How will you describe Lovlina's success in Tokyo?

Chanu: Oh! It's a fantastic show. I have been working with the women boxers of Assam for a very long period and it is nice to see that the state is finally able to produce an Olympics champion. Congratulations Lovlina!

TS: Is she capable to repeat the same performance in Paris Olympics?

Chanu: Why not? She is a very good and hard working boxer. You can't reach to podium in Olympics unless you are dedicated and focused to your job. I am optimistic that she would repeat this performance in Paris too.

TS: Have you noticed any area that Lovlina needs to be developed?

Chanu: Yes. She needs to work a little to develop a bit of extra muscle in her body. I feel it would give more power to her punch and she would become very difficult to beat. If you watched the semi-final bout in Tokyo you would notice that her opponent won the tie only because of better body advantage. Otherwise you could see different Lovlina on that day.

TS: Assam already produced many international medal winning boxers in women category. However the scenario is not same in boys section. Why?

Chanu: It's true that our women boxers are dominating the national and international circuit in comparison to our boys. But the fact is that we have good talent in boys also. Still the difference occurrs because of insufficient quality training partner for our boys. Our women boxers practice with the male boxers and it helped them to develop their speed and strength. But the story is not same for our boys. You will get better idea if you watch Shiva Thapa. Once he started to train at Army Sports Institute in Pune he became a champion boxer and gave several international medals to India and also represented country in Olympics.

TS: Your former teammate Mary Kom narrowly missed a medal in Olympics this time…

Chanu: Mary is a legend and I was expecting a medal from her in Tokyo. But unfortunately she bowed out in quarterfinals. I know Mary from her childhood days as both of us belong to same district and trained at same place. She was very laborious. Our training centre was far away from home. We even slept many days in floor in a small office to avoid the long travel after training. Never saw any anxiety or tiredness in Mary's face. Her only motto was to fight, fight, fight… The result is in front of us.

TS: How do you see the future of boxing in Assam?

Chanu: We have good talents in this game and the state is capable to produce more and more champion boxers. However we need more quality coaches particularly in different districts. Kids should learn the basic properly otherwise it is very difficult to rectify their faults in the later stage of the career.

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