Renowned boxing coach Dmitry Dmitruk will guide Indians now

The former Russian boxing professional who holds an Irish passport joined the Indian women’s squad preparing for the Worlds at NIS Patiala on Monday after completing his contractual formalities with the Sports Authority of India (SAI). Dmitruk’s appointment came four months after former Irish professional boxer, Bernard Dunne, was named the high-performance director (HPD) for Indian boxing in October 2022.The two veterans had formed a successful partnership with Georgian coach Zaur Antia at the Irish Athletics Boxing Association (IABA) during their respective stints with the Dublin-based body. They were instrumental in the rise of Kellie Harrington who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in the women’s lightweight division (57-60kg) – the only gold won by Ireland at the 2020 Summer Games.The trio was involved in securing nine of Ireland’s 17 Olympic medals in the boxing ring. With the arrival of Dmitruk and Dunne, Indian boxing is likely to benefit immensely from learning the Irish way — to box aggressively inside the ring. For the record, boxing has, by farbeen , Ireland’s most successful sport at the Olympics, accounting for more than 50 percent of their medals won.

“India has emerged as a boxing powerhouse in recent times and I am extremely delighted to get the opportunity of coaching this talented group of pugilists,” Dmitruk said on his appointment. “With the experience I have garnered in my career, I am confident that we will continue to achieve similar glory in prestigious tournaments together. I am excited to start working with the team and contribute to raising the bar of performances over the next couple of years,” added Dmitruk, who will also be looking after the interests of junior and youth category boxers.He