I will happily take this bronze: Vikas

New Delhi: He could not better his senior Vijender Singh`s feat but teen Indian boxer Vikas Krishan is still quite happy with the bronze medal he settled for at the World Championships as he feels he gave a good account of himself against older and experienced rivals.

Competing in his maiden senior World Championships, the 19-year-old had to be content with a bronze in Baku, Azerbaijan, which was India`s lone medal at the event just like the last time around. The country had managed a bronze in the previous edition two years ago as well through Olympian Vijender -- at that time a first for Indian boxing. Vikas, playing his first tournament after jumping a couple of divisions to welterweight (69kg), lost to Ukraine`s European Championship bronze-medallist Taras Shelestyuk 12-15. During the event, he along with L Devendro Singh (49kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg), also qualified for next year`s London Olympics by reaching the quarterfinals, making it the most successful World Championships for India. "I am very satisfied with my performance as I competed against some very tough guys in my draw and given that it was my debut event in the welter weight division, I will happily take this bronze medal," Vikas said from Baku. The Asian Games gold-medallist in the light weight (60kg) division, jumped to welter weight just two months before the World Championships. The Haryana-lad, who is a former youth world champion, said he felt a tad tired during his semifinal bout against a muscular 26-year-old rival. "I was tired because jumping a couple of divisions and adjusting to it is no easy task. I know I could have performed better but everything is god`s will and if he wanted a bronze for me, I would take that bronze," said the teenager, who has won admiration for his tactful boxing. "My rival was a mature guy, who kept attacking me, drained my energy. I tried very hard in the first two rounds to work out a counter-strategy but it was not to be my day. In the final round, I took things as they came.” "It has been a fantastic learning experience and I am sure I will be going a step further when I compete in this event the next time. The big achievement here is that I have qualified for the Olympics and I can`t be happier," added the boxer, who finished the final three minutes of his bout 6-5 ahead. National coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu was also all praise for the teen, saying he is a future world champion. "His ability belies his age, I am sure he will be a world champion the next time," said Sandhu. "Even overall, I am very happy with my performance because four of my boxers (Vikas, L Devendro Singh, Jai Bhagwan and Manoj Kumar) qualified for the Olympics by reaching quarterfinals. It`s a laudable performance and I am proud of them," he added. PTI