Once bested by his 'Arjuna', 'Dronacharya' Kuttappa comes out of shadows

He is the 'Dronacharya' who was bested by his 'Arjuna' before becoming his guiding force.

C A Kuttappa -- the sole Dronacharya awardee in Indian boxing this year -- is a "sought-after" man in the national camp and the "crucial role" he played in Vijender Singh becoming India's first Olympic medallist in the sport is a tale in itself.

"Do write that I beat him in 2003 at a national competition," laughed Vijender when PTI reached out to him for his thoughts on the 39-year-old Armyman being named one of the Dronacharya awardees of 2018.

"On a more serious note, he is brilliant. A man of integrity, he took care of me, he was there for me when I needed him and I can never forget that. I don't think there is anyone in Indian boxing who can question his merit," said Vijender, who plies his trade in the professional circuit now but remains an icon in Indian amateur boxing too.

The man himself is in slight disbelief, which is understandable, given the many ups and downs he went through as a boxer.

"I never for a moment thought that this was going to come to me at the ripe old age of 39," he joked he in a free-wheeling chat.

"In 2009, Viju (Vijender) had asked me 'coach sir, aap apply toh karo, main aapko support karunga' but I said, how can I even think of it," he recalled.

The trail-blazing Vijender's is not the only career he has shaped, Kuttappa has also worked closely with, among others, Suranjoy Singh, who won an astonishing eight successive international gold medals at his peak, and Shiva Thapa, India's first boxer to win three consecutive Asian Championship medals, including a gold, and till date the youngest to qualify for the Olympics.

"I did my coaching diploma from the NIS (National Institute of Sports) in 2006 and was then posted at the Army Sports Institute (ASI). Me along with some others were deputed to the national camp in Patiala soon after and I caught the eye of then national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu," Kuttappa said.

"He took me in as an assistant coach and ever since I have been in Patiala. With Viju, my equation was built over a period of time, it started around 2007 and we have been close. He and Shiva are of the same level, their boxing skills are unmatched, punches, movement, it's just brilliant," he added.

"They are quite similar, in their own world and close to a very few people but absolute joys to work with. I have always tried to focus on their strengths," he said.

But who's the favourite?
What about his favourite moment as coach?