Four Indian Boxers Make 2012 Olympics

The world’s largest democracy will be well-represented in the pugilistic arts at the 2012 London Olympics. Four Indian boxers reached the quarterfinals of the AIBA World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, assuring them of places in next year’s games: junior welterweight Manoj Kumar (right), lightweight Jai Bhagwan, welterweight Vikas Krishnan and light flyweight Devendro Singh.

But the Indian team’s medal hopes took a major blow over the weekend when 2008 bronze medalist Vijender Singh lost his opening bout at middleweight to Cuba’s Emilio Correa. The fight was a rematch of their semifinal in Beijing, which Correa won en route to earning the silver medal. Hopefully Singh, 25, will consider moving abroad to pursue a professional career following the disappointment rather than succumbing to the lure of Bollywood.

We’ll have more on the Indian hopefuls as well as the three U.S. fighters that qualified for the Olympics as the action continues this week. You can catch the webcast or view video highlights of the fights here.