Staying out of the national team has made Panghal stronger, feels boxer Akhil Kumar

NEW DELHI: Former Commonwealth Games champion boxer Akhil Kumar believes a battle-hardened Amit Panghal, who persevered through the setback of being dropped from the national team before roaring back to qualify for the Olympics, will be among the most mentally strong Indian athletes competing in the Paris Games.

After the first-round exit from Tokyo Olympics, Panghal lost his spot in the team on the basis of Boxing Federation of India's evaluation system, which was drafted by then High Performance Director Bernard Dunne.

"Amit is in a strong place now because he has made a comeback and seen the tough times in the past few years," Akhil told PTI on the sidelines of a panel discussion on India's Olympic prospects hosted by the Delhi Sports Journalists Association in collaboration with the Sports Authority of India.

The snubs severely dented Panghal's confidence and made him question his abilities.

However, when the opportunity came, India's lone men's world championships silver-medallist grabbed it with both hands to secure an Olympic quota in the 51kg category. The Games begin on July 26.

"When he was not in the team he must have had sleepless nights, he trained hard. He must have felt things that he cannot put into words. He has walked out of all that stronger and should take it as a motivation," Akhil added.

A former world number one, Panghal has medals in the all big-ticket events barring the Olympics

He once stood at the pinnacle of his sport with gold medals at the Asian Games and Asian Championships and a historic silver at the World Championships.

Akhil believes Panghal's experience of beating some of the best in the world makes him a force to reckon with at the Paris Games.

"Amit has a medal in every tournament apart from Olympics and I hope he gets that (missing medal). He has defeated so many talented boxers overs the years so hopes and expectations from him increase."

Akhil, who won the gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, feels all the boxers in India's six-member Paris squad are capable of winning medals as most of them have proved themselves in marquee tournaments.

The trio of Nishant Dev, Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain head to the Games after clinching world championship medals in 2023, while Jaismine Lamboria and Preeti Pawar snared bronze medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games respectively.

"The boxers have done well recently. Most of them have medals in big tournaments. Nishant is very talented, I have seen his bouts, he plays really well," he said.

Tokyo bronze-medallist Borgohain is chasing history as she is aiming for a second Olympic medal.

"Lovlina has a strong contender. She has a chance to create history by winning a second Olympic medal in boxing, no Indian has done it," Akhil said.