Kolkata: Indian boxing star Vijender Singh on Tuesday hailed athletics’ latest golden girl Hima Das’ performance, saying the Assamese lass should be supported financially from here on and not just eulogised.
Hima created history last week by winning the yellow metal in the women’s 400 metre event at the IAAF World U-20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.
Hima registered a time of 51.46 seconds in the final at the Ratina Stadium to become the first Indian athlete to win gold in a world championship across all age groups.
“She did a great job. It’s amazing,” Vijender told reporters on the sidelines of an interactive session with students of Newtown School here.
“People only congratulate her. But there should be people who will support her financially. She comes from a poor family and she needs financial support,” said the 32-year old Vijender, who is now into pro boxing.
Talking about his own experience before Beijing Olympics where he was the last to qualify from the Asian qualifying tournament in Kazakhstan, Vijender said it doesn’t come easy and thus the toil should be recognised in Hima’s case.
“People had written me off as I made the cut at the last moment. It doesn’t come easy so I feel her effort should not go in waste and she should be supported properly.”
The 32-year-old 2008 Olympic bronze medallist was slated to take on Briton Lee Markham for the Commonwealth Super middleweight title but the latter got injured.
The fight was scheduled for July 13 and would have given Vijender a shot at his third title after having claimed the WBO Asia Pacific and Oriental Super Middleweight titles.
“We are planning to have the fight in September but the dates have not been decided yet,” Vijender informed.
“The opponent was supposed to be Lee Markham but he got injured so the fight got postponed. Now the Commonwealth committee will decide the opponent,” the Manchester-based pugilist added.
— IANS
