Five Indian boxers qualify for Beijing Games

MUMBAI, India (Reuters) - India will send its largest ever boxing team to the Beijing Olympics after five fighters made the grade in recent qualifying events.

Vijender, Dinesh Kumar and Jitender Kumar joined Antharish Lakra and Akhil Kumar on the team for Beijing after they made the cut in the Asian qualifying tournament in Kazakhstan at the weekend.

Aside from Lakra, the other four are products of Bhiwani Boxing Club in Haryana in northern India, known as the boxing nursery of the country.

"What else do I want? I am the happiest person on earth and am waiting for the day one of them wins the country's first-ever Olympic boxing medal," the club's coach Jagdish Singh told the Hindustan Times on Monday.

Vijender, an Asian Games bronze and Commonwealth Games silver medallist, is considered the only medal prospect.

Despite being the world's second most populous nation, India has only won four individual medals in Olympic history since they sent their first team to the Summer Games in 1928. Their men's hockey team, eight-times winners, will miss the Olympics for the first time after failing to qualify this month.

India's medal hopes for the August games are in shooting where, they have several prospects led by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who won silver four years ago in Athens. A mix of Indian archers, athletes, wrestlers and swimmmers have already qualified.

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