My instinct tells me I will win bronze: Vikas Krishan Yadav

NEW DELHI: Vikas Krishan Yadav believes he can emulate Vijender's Beijing Games bronze medal at the Rio Games.
"My instinct tells me I am going to win a bronze in Rio. I have been emulating Vijender Singh's performance at the international level. Be it the Asian Games gold, the World Championship or the Asian Championship bronze, I have won the same medals. In Rio, I will be competing in the same weight category (middleweight) in which Vijender won the bronze in Beijing.I will need to win only two bouts to make the podium," said the 24-year-old Vikas.
In contrast to his early qualification for the London Olympics, Vikas earned the quota place in the last qualifying event in Baku and returned home with a bronze. Vikas, however, sounded confident about his preparations.
"I had eight months to prepare before the London Olympics and I had made many plans on how I wanted to train. But nothing worked. Before Baku, the last qualifier for amateurs, there was pressure but I knew I had worked hard. I didn't qualify at the World Championship, and then missed at the Asian level. But there was not a single day that I took rest. In London, I was just a young boxer, now I have the experience," he said.
"My pro fight in Noida boosted my confidence. I used to struggle with stamina even in three rounds but after going all out in the six-round fight I felt confident. All my fights in Baku were one-sided and I didn't lose even one round in the entire tournament," the Hissar lad said.
Vikas will now be heading to Venezuela for the last qualifying tournament open for professional boxers. He is looking to gain experience not by competing but by analysing his possible competitors from the sidelines.
"I won't be competing since I have already qualified but it will be a good opportunity to train. Boxers who have already qualified and those who will fall out early in the competition will be available for sparring. I want to utilize my time training with them," he said.
"For now, I want the stitches on my eyebrow to heal. There are some combined training sessions in the UK but due to lack of time I don't want to take any risk. After returning from Venezuela I will be left with only 20 days. I will prefer to train in India with different partners," he said.
Vikas' Venezuela sojourn, including payment for sparring partners, will be taken care of by the sports ministry and his sponsors JSW Sports.