Three Indians qualify

NEW DELHI, JAN. 24. ``They have made us proud,'' said the President of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF), Mr. Ashok Kumar Mattoo, on the qualification of the three Indian boxers for the Sydney Olympic Games.

The three, light heavy Gurcharan Singh, middleweight Jitender Kumar and light fly S. Suresh Singh, have made the grade by entering the finals in the ongoing Seoul Cup, the second Olympic qualifying competition for Asia, at Taejeon City, South Korea.

``The standards have gone up so much in Asia that it is difficult to qualify (for the Olympics). Our boys have done extremely well to make it,'' said Mr. Mattoo. ``Now on the whole emphasis should be on how to get that elusive Olympic medal,'' he added.

``We do have another chance to get a few more boxers into the Olympics,'' said Mr. Mattoo when asked about Asian Games gold medallist Dingko Singh's chances of making it to Sydney. Dingko had lost in the opening round at Taejeon City after having skipped the Asian championship at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The third and final qualifying competition for Asia comes off in Bangkok in April.

- Our Special Correspondent

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