In the wee hours of Saturday, August 4, 2012, Vikas Krishan woke up to some disconcerting news. The decision of his Olympic welterweight pre-quarterfinal bout against USAs Errol Spence five hours ago had been overturned. Now, instead of hopes of a medal he was left with the crushing burden of a defeat, whose validity he did not entirely believe in. For a 20-year-old making his maiden Olympic appearance, this was too crude a shock to stomach, leaving him disappointed, disillusioned and on the brink of giving up the sport.Four years down the line, Vikas, bruise marks contouring his face, has metamorphosed into a man of steel. Qualifying for the Rio Games after advancing to the semifinals of the AIBA World Olympic qualification event in Baku, Azerbaijan last month, the boxer from Bhiwani wants to leave little to chance this time around. Hes a boxer with a vision, notes Commonwealth Games 2006 gold medalist Akhil Kumar, If he sets himself a target, he gives it everything that he possibly can. Also one of the most wonderful traits that Ive noticed in him is that hes self-motivated.Expectations leading up the London Games were staggering. Understandably so, given he was coming off some great results - gold at the Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010 and a bronze at the World Championships the following year. The failure at London left him devastated. A years hiatus from the sport following the setback offered him both the time and the perspective to return to the ring with renewed zest.Terming Vikas a sharp and intelligent boxer, national coach GS Sandhu says with experience, hes grown wiser in strategies and stronger in mind. He showed potential right from his junior years. He plans well, boxes with his mind and has power punches and good counter movements.Competing in the same category (75 kg) as that of Indias pin-up boxing star Vijender Singh, parallels were almost inevitable. Interestingly, according to insiders, prior to turning pro, Vijender had, on more than one occasion avoided a bout against Vikas.Making his AIBA pro-boxing debut in New Delhi last month, Vikas, who has hinted of Rio being his final Olympic appearance, hammered Kenyas Nickson Abaka 3-0, possibly a tell-tale sign of him too taking the pro route in the near future.With Rio being the second Olympic appearance for all three male Indian boxers whove qualified this time - Shiva Thapa, Manoj Kumar and Vikas - hopes arent misplaced. A scientific boxer with a lot of confidence in his abilities, its now largely a question of how the draw works out for Vikas at the Olympics.Describing him as a great medal prospect, 1994 World Championship bronze medalist V Devarajan, feels the Rio-bound boxers counterattacking style is winning. Sometimes, in case of even the best boxers, when your instinct is to attack first, there are good chances of making an error in judgement. Vikas though waits for his opponent to make the first move. Though I feel he could do a lot better in the close range which would in turn improve his speed and power combination, he says.With the boxing federation in disarray and no nationals being conducted or exposure trips provided for, JSW Sport stepped in two years ago, cushioning the blow on Vikas. Making provision for stints in England and USA, so he could spar with international partners and train with the best, theyve stood behind him firmly. His promise, CEO Mustafa Ghouse says, was never in doubt. Hes very clear about what he wants and can be extremely stubborn about it, he says, The London incident robbed him of his inclination to compete but then something within him snapped, he probably felt there was unfinished business. He probably knew that his moment of reckoning was due.? Cheap Air Max 97 . "Hes going to have hip surgery on Jan. 7, and hell be expected to rehabilitate for four to six months beyond that," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said Friday in an interview. Cheap Air Max 97 Free Shipping . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. http://www.cheapairmax97china.com/ . Wall made the comment in a speech to a Regina business crowd that included Lesnar. The U.S. wrestler and retired mixed martial artist says he was visiting his brothers farm in Saskatchewan and decided he wanted to hear what the premier had to say. Wholesale Air Max 97 China . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. Air Max 97 Clearance . Note: The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that Sean Monahan would not be made available to Canadas World Junior team. IOWA CITY, Iowa -- With a possible trip to the Big Ten championship game at stake, Nebraska fell flat.C.J. Beathard threw three touchdown passes and the Hawkeyes pummeled No. 17 Nebraska 40-10 on Friday, knocking the Cornhuskers out of Big Ten title contention and sending Wisconsin to the championship game.Tommy Armstrong started for Nebraska (9-3, 6-3 Big Ten) despite a balky hamstring and was just 13 of 35 passing for 125 yards. Backup Ryker Fyfe, who broke his non-throwing wrist last week, didnt take a snap until the game had long been decided.Tommy wasnt 100 percent, Huskers coach Mike Riley said. I dont know if he was the healthiest...I dont know how much it would have made a difference (to play Fyfe).Nebraskas defense was just as bad as its offense.LeShun Daniels Jr. ran for 158 yards and two scores and George Kittle caught two TD passes for the Hawkeyes (8-4, 6-3). They closed the regular season with three straight wins -- two of them over ranked opponents -- and scored their most points since a win over Purdue on Oct. 15.Iowa broke open what was expected to be a tight game with a 75-yard TD run by Akrum Wadley and a 77-yard touchdown throw from Beathard to Riley McCarron in the first quarter.We played as good as weve played all year, Beathard said. It just shows the fight and the resilience of this team.The Badgers are big favorites to beat Minnesota on Saturday anyway. But the Cornhuskers, who entered November as a legitimate playoff contender, hardly looked like one after being outscored 102-13 in their last two road games.We gave up big plays. I think we were horrible on third down, Riley said. Im really disappointed all the way around in all of us.THE TAKEAWAYNebraska: With so much to play for, its hard to believe that the Cornhuskers played so, so poorly. Nebraska gave up three plays of over 50 yards, and Armstrong was all over the place. The Huskers have lost three of their last four to Iowa, a fate sealed when they ran into Iowa kicker Keith Duncan on a field goal try in the fourth quarter -- allowing the Haawkeyes to go up 23 a few plays later.ddddddddddddIowa: The Hawkeyes didnt make it to the Big Ten title game either. But they did go 6-3 in the league, an impressive feat for a team that lost to North Dakota State of the FCS in its final nonconference game. Iowa also made its case for a high-profile bowl, which looked iffy to say the least after losing by 27 points at Penn State to start this month. You learn a lot about yourself in November, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.B1G TITLE GAME UPDATEWisconsin gets the Wests spot in Indianapolis next week because it beat Nebraska 23-17 (OT) in late October. In the East, Penn State might have the easiest path. The favored Nittany Lions need to beat Michigan State at home and hope favored Ohio State beats Michigan on Saturday. Ohio State needs a win and a Penn State loss -- and even if the Nittany Lions take the East the Buckeyes should be in good shape for the playoff at 11-1. Michigan needs to upset the hated Buckeyes.EXTRA POINTSDaniels became the first Iowa rusher with over 1,000 yards since 2011. ...Armstrongs 13-yard TD pass to Stanley Morgan snapped a streak of over 136 minutes without allowing a touchdown for Iowa. The Hawkeyes shut out Illinois 28-0 last week. ... Wadley had 105 yards rushing on just 11 carries. ... Armstrong made his 44th career start, setting a team record for a quarterback. Taylor Martinez, his predecessor, made 43 career starts.POLL IMPLICATIONSNebraska likely stays in the Top 25. But the Huskers could find themselves drop a few spots after their second straight poor showing on the road. Iowa, which reached as high as 13th earlier this year, could sneak back after beating the Huskers and Michigan in November.UP NEXTNebraska will head to a decent bowl game just a year after sneaking into a bid with just five wins.Iowa will find out which bowl game it will play in next Sunday.---More college football at www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '