The
39-year-old Kuttappa is credited with shaping some of the country's
most successful boxers such as Vijender Singh, M Suranjoy Singh and
Shiva Thapa among others.
Dronacharya
awardee C
A Kuttappa has taken over as India's
chief boxing coach at the ongoing national camp from which star
pugilist Vikas Krishan (75kg) was left out following his professional
plunge.
The
39-year-old Kuttappa, credited with shaping some of the country's
most successful boxers such as Vijender Singh, M Suranjoy Singh and
Shiva Thapa among others, took over from veteran coach S R Singh at
the beginning of the camp which started December 10. Singh has now
retired.
"It's
such a huge responsibility but I am trying to do my best. I have a
few plans and hopefully, I will be able to execute them,"
Kuttappa, who was an assistant coach, told PTI.
The
Army man said his elevation was High Performance Director Santiago
Nieva's idea.
"He
asked me if I was interested. I sought some time because I needed to
think it over. I am not most senior is terms of age and that was
playing on my mind. I told this to Santiago and he told me I
shouldn't be bothered about it," the former National Games
gold-medallist from Karnataka said.
His
first major assignment would be the second edition of the India Open
scheduled in January in Guwahati.
"Earlier
it used to be more about pumping up my boys but now I am going to be
directly responsible for their performance. So, I know the pressure
is going to be huge but I hope I can deliver," he said.
Kuttappa
is just one of the two coaches from the Services Sports Control Board
(SSCB), the reigning national champions, in the camp and the line-up
is dominated by coaches from the Railways Sports Promotion Board
(RSPB).
RSPB's
representation in the coaches' list is five -- the long-serving
Jaydev Bisht, Lalit Prasad, Jai Singh Patil, Jitender Kumar and
Jagdip Hooda.
"Although
SSCB is the reigning national champion, their representation is just
two. Are the coaches selected from RSPB or for that matter Sports
Authority of India (SAI) really the only ones available?," said
a source in the federation.
It
is learnt that the Sports Ministry has already sought an explanation
on the criteria for selecting assistant coaches, from the Boxing
Federation of India.
As
for the boxers in the camp, Vikas, a Commonwealth Games
gold-medallist and Asian Games bronze-winner this year, is the most
notable omission following his decision to sign up with American
promoter Bob Arum.
Also
not there in the list is CWG-medallist Manoj Kumar, who is currently
undergoing rehabilitation for a few long-standing niggles.
"I
have a month to be fully fit. After that, I will undergo a trial and
if all goes well, I will be there when the fresh camp starts,"
Manoj said.
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