By IANS,
New Delhi : Indian boxers, who won four bronze medals in the World Cup in Moscow, returned home to a warm welcome here Tuesday.
Akhil Kumar (54kg), Jitender (51kg), Anthresh Lakra (57 kg) and Dinesh Kumar (81 kg) lost their semi-final bouts and had to contend with bronze medals.
Akhil, who lost to Olympic silver medallist Leon Alarcon Yankiel of Cuba after putting up a strong fight, said that the year has turned out to be the best for Indian boxing.
“We would have been more happy, had we won silver or gold medals in the World Cup. But we gave our best and satisfied with our performance,” Akhil told IANS.
Akhil, who was unfortunate to have lost an Olympic medal as he went down in the quarters at the Beijing Games, said he will work even harder to achieve his goal of winning an Olympic gold for his country.
“My aim is to win gold for India and the losses have made me more resolute. I will work hard to improve my performance.”
The Bhiwani boxer, though, is happy with all the adulation boxers received after the Beijing Olympics, where Vijender won the bronze while Akhil and Jitender reached quarterfinals.
“It will certainly be a turning point in my career. Boxing has come into prominence through our performance and media highlighting the sport. It is good sign for the game in India,” he said.