Guadalajara 2008: Go Thokchom Go!

Saturday, Nov 1, 2008: A few hours from now, India’s Thokchom Nanao Singh will take on Grigoriy Nikolaychuk of Russia for the gold medal in the 48-kg (Light Flyweight) class in the 1st AIBA Youth World Championships at Guadalajara in Mexico. Thokchom is the only medal contender amongst the 7-member Indian boxing team and his run to the final has been most impressive.

First Preliminary: Beat Wright Robert (Scotland) on points 11:6
Second Preliminary: Beat European cadet champion Mikoya Butsenko (Ukraine) by RSC (Referee Stop Contest) in Round 3
Quarter-finals: Beat Latipov Jasurbek (Uzbekistan) on points 17:6
Semi-finals: Beat Beccu Jeremy (France) on points 14:4

Hailing from the Army Boys Sports Company at Artillery Centre, Hyderabad, in 2003, Nanao won medals at the national cadet, sub-junior and junior championships after which he was shifted to the Army Boys Sports Company at Army Sports Institute, Pune. Nanao won the silver at the Junior Commonwealth Championships in Scotland in 2007 and followed it up with gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games at Pune last month.

His strength is his speed in delivering a combo of 5-6 straight punches and his defence. His short height does not allow him as much reach but he negates the disadvantage by attacking his opponents relentlessly and engaging them at close quarters.

Those of you who wish to catch Thokchom delivering the straight punches on Grigoriy, can log on to the AIBA site. Am sure there’s going to be a whole bunch of Indian boxing fans staying up to watch the action.