<p>Commonwealth Games medal-winners M Suranjoy Singh and L Devendro Singh, whose stellar boxing careers were cut short by injuries, have been roped in as coaches for men by the national federation ahead of this month's world championships.</p>.<p>The 29-year-old Devendro and the 35-year-old Suranjoy are among 14 coaches that have been short-listed for the national camp in Patiala, starting this week. The world championship, featuring over 600 boxers from more than 100 countries, begins on October 24 in Belgrade, Serbia.</p>.<p>The other prominent names in the coaching staff are head coach Narender Rana, former junior coach M S Dhaka, the seasoned Dharmendra Yadav and former boxers Diwakar Parsad and Torak Kharpan among others. The development was confirmed to <em>PTI</em> by BFI Secretary General Hemanta Kalita.</p>.<p>Interestingly, both Suranjoy and Devendro have trained under Dhaka at the junior level.</p>.<p>While Suranjoy is a gold-medallist from the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2009 Asian Championships, Devendro won a silver in the CWG and made the pre-quarters of the Olympic Games in London, 2012.</p>.<p>Suranjoy had been named an assistant coach in 2017 as well but he could not accept the position due to some personal issues.</p>.<p>"The last time I was named, there were family problems, abhi sab theek hain, join kar lenge," the Manipuri, who won a sensational eight consecutive international gold medals during a stupendous run from 2009 to 2010 before a knee injury hampered his career, told <em>PTI</em>.</p>.<p>"The world championship is going to be a challenging assignment given that the weight categories have been rejigged but we are up for it, and hopefully we can get some good results," he added.</p>.<p>Devendro, a world championships quarterfinalist and an Asian championships silver-medallist, was excited as well.</p>.<p>"I finally get a chance to put to use what I have learnt for all these years, I hope I can make it count. It is an honour," said the soft-spoken Manipuri, whose eye sight problems and a debilitating knee injury ensured an early end to his career as a boxer.</p>.<p>Devendro completed his coaching Diploma from Patiala's National Institute of Sports in 2020.</p>.<p>As was expected, the five boxers who represented India in the Tokyo Olympics — Amit Panghal, Manish Kaushik, Vikas Krishan, Ashish Kumar and Satish Kumar — are not a part of the world championship camp after they skipped the Nationals. Of these, Vikas and Ashish had injuries.</p>.<p>Both Suranjoy and Devendro are part of the Services Sports Control Board, which dominated the National Championships last month, winning eight gold medals.</p>.<p>The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) had earlier decided to replace men's chief coach C A Kuttappa with Army Sports Institute's Rana ahead of the mega-event in Serbia, which is also set to mark the end of High Performance Director Santiago Nieva's tenure.</p>.<p>A former Asian Championship bronze-medallist and a four-time national champion, the 49-year-old Rana has been a seasoned coach with the Services Sports Control Board.</p>.<p>He has trained the likes of world championship medal winners Amit Panghal and Manish Kaushik at various stages of their careers.</p>.<p>Rana has been based at the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune, the place credited with discovering stars such as Suranjoy, Vikas, Shiva Thapa and Devendro among others.</p>.<p>Kuttappa remains a part of the set-up though as the federation has named him the coach co-ordinator.</p>.<p>The development continues the churning in Indian boxing after the Tokyo Olympics performance, which was dubbed underwhelming by the national federation.</p>.<p>Already, women's High Performance Director Raffaele Bergamasco has left after not getting an extension in his contract. Women's head coach Mohd Ali Qamar could also be replaced.</p>.<p>India had its biggest ever boxing team — five men and four women — competing at the Games in July-August, of whom only Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) could finish on the podium with a bronze medal.</p>.<p>It was the country's first boxing medal at the Games in nine years, but more was expected given the top form the pugilists had shown leading up to the showpiece.</p>.<p><strong>Check out latest DH videos here</strong></p>
<p>Commonwealth Games medal-winners M Suranjoy Singh and L Devendro Singh, whose stellar boxing careers were cut short by injuries, have been roped in as coaches for men by the national federation ahead of this month's world championships.</p>.<p>The 29-year-old Devendro and the 35-year-old Suranjoy are among 14 coaches that have been short-listed for the national camp in Patiala, starting this week. The world championship, featuring over 600 boxers from more than 100 countries, begins on October 24 in Belgrade, Serbia.</p>.<p>The other prominent names in the coaching staff are head coach Narender Rana, former junior coach M S Dhaka, the seasoned Dharmendra Yadav and former boxers Diwakar Parsad and Torak Kharpan among others. The development was confirmed to <em>PTI</em> by BFI Secretary General Hemanta Kalita.</p>.<p>Interestingly, both Suranjoy and Devendro have trained under Dhaka at the junior level.</p>.<p>While Suranjoy is a gold-medallist from the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2009 Asian Championships, Devendro won a silver in the CWG and made the pre-quarters of the Olympic Games in London, 2012.</p>.<p>Suranjoy had been named an assistant coach in 2017 as well but he could not accept the position due to some personal issues.</p>.<p>"The last time I was named, there were family problems, abhi sab theek hain, join kar lenge," the Manipuri, who won a sensational eight consecutive international gold medals during a stupendous run from 2009 to 2010 before a knee injury hampered his career, told <em>PTI</em>.</p>.<p>"The world championship is going to be a challenging assignment given that the weight categories have been rejigged but we are up for it, and hopefully we can get some good results," he added.</p>.<p>Devendro, a world championships quarterfinalist and an Asian championships silver-medallist, was excited as well.</p>.<p>"I finally get a chance to put to use what I have learnt for all these years, I hope I can make it count. It is an honour," said the soft-spoken Manipuri, whose eye sight problems and a debilitating knee injury ensured an early end to his career as a boxer.</p>.<p>Devendro completed his coaching Diploma from Patiala's National Institute of Sports in 2020.</p>.<p>As was expected, the five boxers who represented India in the Tokyo Olympics — Amit Panghal, Manish Kaushik, Vikas Krishan, Ashish Kumar and Satish Kumar — are not a part of the world championship camp after they skipped the Nationals. Of these, Vikas and Ashish had injuries.</p>.<p>Both Suranjoy and Devendro are part of the Services Sports Control Board, which dominated the National Championships last month, winning eight gold medals.</p>.<p>The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) had earlier decided to replace men's chief coach C A Kuttappa with Army Sports Institute's Rana ahead of the mega-event in Serbia, which is also set to mark the end of High Performance Director Santiago Nieva's tenure.</p>.<p>A former Asian Championship bronze-medallist and a four-time national champion, the 49-year-old Rana has been a seasoned coach with the Services Sports Control Board.</p>.<p>He has trained the likes of world championship medal winners Amit Panghal and Manish Kaushik at various stages of their careers.</p>.<p>Rana has been based at the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune, the place credited with discovering stars such as Suranjoy, Vikas, Shiva Thapa and Devendro among others.</p>.<p>Kuttappa remains a part of the set-up though as the federation has named him the coach co-ordinator.</p>.<p>The development continues the churning in Indian boxing after the Tokyo Olympics performance, which was dubbed underwhelming by the national federation.</p>.<p>Already, women's High Performance Director Raffaele Bergamasco has left after not getting an extension in his contract. Women's head coach Mohd Ali Qamar could also be replaced.</p>.<p>India had its biggest ever boxing team — five men and four women — competing at the Games in July-August, of whom only Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) could finish on the podium with a bronze medal.</p>.<p>It was the country's first boxing medal at the Games in nine years, but more was expected given the top form the pugilists had shown leading up to the showpiece.</p>.<p><strong>Check out latest DH videos here</strong></p>