Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu ( Punjabi: ਗੁਰ੍ਬਾਕਸ਼ ਸਿੰਘ ਸੰਧੂ), also spelled as Gurbax/Gurbux Singh Sandhu, was the national boxing coach of India. He started coaching the India National Team from the year 1993. He was influential in bringing a medal to India in 2008 Summer Olympics, when Vijender Singh of India won bronze, which was the first ever medal for India in Boxing at Olympics. He has also helped Indian boxers in their performances in World Championship.[ which?] He stopped coaching boxing of India until July 2013. [1]
Early life
Sandhu's association with the sport of boxing goes back to his childhood days at Sainik School, Jamnagar, where boxing was a compulsory discipline. [ citation needed]
He was a state champion but as he says, his inclination was more towards studies. However, destiny willed otherwise and after finishing school, Sandhu joined Government Sports College, Jalandhar, and later studied to acquire a diploma in boxing coaching from the NIS in 1975. He went to Germany to pursue Masters in Sports and on his return, joined NIS in 1977-78. [2]
Two of his apprentice boxers reached the quarter-finals of 2008 Summer Olympics, and Vijender Singh won a bronze medal. In 2012 Olympics, two boxers reached the quarter-finals. He was also successful in making more boxers qualify for the Olympics. Eight Indian boxers had qualified for the London Olympics 2012. [3]
Performance of boxers in Olympics
2008 Olympics
| Athlete | Event | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition Result |
Opposition Result |
Opposition Result |
Opposition Result |
Opposition Result |
Rank | |||
| Jitender Kumar | Flyweight | 
Memis (
TUR)W (Opponent retired) |
Doniyorov (
UZB)W 13 : 6 [4] |
Balakshin (
RUS)L 15 : 11 [5] |
Did not advance | |||
| Akhil Kumar | Bantamweight | 
Hallab (
FRA)W 12 : 5 |
Vodopyanov (
RUS) W +9 : 9 [6] |
Gojan (
MDA)L 10 : 3 [7] |
Did not advance | |||
| Anthresh Lalit Lakra | Featherweight |
Sultonov (
UZB) L 9 : 5 |
Did not advance | |||||
| Vijender Singh | Middleweight | 
Badou (
GAM)W 13 : 2 |
Chomphuphuang (
THA)W 13 : 3 [8] |
Góngora (
ECU)W 9 : 4 [9] |
Correa (
CUB)L 8 : 5 [10] |
Did not advance |  Bronze
| |
| Dinesh Kumar | Light heavyweight | 
Benchabla (
ALG)L 3 : 23 (stopped by referee) [11] |
Did not advance | |||||
2012 Olympics
- Men
| Athlete | Event | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition Result |
Opposition Result |
Opposition Result |
Opposition Result |
Opposition Result |
Rank | ||||
| Devendro Singh | Light flyweight | 
Molina (
HON) W RSC |
Purevdorj (
MGL) W 16–11 |
Barnes (
IRL) L 18-23 |
Did not advance | ||||
| Shiva Thapa | Bantamweight | 
Valdez (
MEX) L 9–14 |
Did not advance | ||||||
| Jai Bhagwan | Lightweight | 
Allisop (
SEY) W 18–8 |
Zhailaouv (
KAZ) L 8–16 |
Did not advance | |||||
| Manoj Kumar | Light welterweight | 
Hudayberdiyev (
TKM) W 13–7 |
Stalker (
GBR) L 16–20 |
Did not advance | |||||
| Vikas Krishan Yadav | Welterweight | Bye | 
Spence (
USA)L 13–15 |
Did not advance | |||||
| Vijender Singh | Middleweight |
Suzhanov (
KAZ) W 14–10 |
Gausha (
USA) W 16–15 |
Atoev (
UZB) L 13–17 |
Did not advance | ||||
| Sumit Sangwan | Light heavyweight | 
Falcão (
BRA) L 14–15 |
Did not advance | ||||||
References
- ^ "Gurbax Singh Sandhu in a News Article". Retrieved 10 August 2012.
- ^ "Gurbax Singh Sandhu in a News Article". Retrieved 10 August 2012.
- ^ "Boxing Contingent". Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
- ^ "Doniyorov V J.Kumar Boxing Flyweight Result". Archived from the original on 19 August 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
- ^ "Balakshin V J.Kumar Boxing Flyweight Result". Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
- ^ "Vodopyanov V A.Kumar Boxing Bantamweight Result". Archived from the original on 12 November 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
- ^ "Gojan V Akhil Kumar Boxing Bantamweight quarterfinal result". Archived from the original on 26 September 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
- ^ "Chomphuphuang V V.Kumar Boxing Middleweight Result". Archived from the original on 29 September 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
- ^ "Góngora V V.Kumar Boxing Middleweight Result". Archived from the original on 12 November 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
- ^ "Beijing Olympic Games results Middleweight SF Boxing". Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
- ^ "Benchabla V D.Kumar Boxing Heavyweight Result". Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2012.