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.? Zach Davies Brewers Jersey . - Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie never doubted he would bring back coach Dennis Allen for a third year despite back-to-back 4-12 records. Freddy Peralta Jersey . Pence singled in the winning run with no outs in the ninth inning to give the Giants a 7-6 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday. https://www.cheapbrewers.com/569y-eric-thames-jersey-brewers.html . "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. Matt Albers Brewers Jersey . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. Hank Aaron Brewers Jersey . During the athletes parade, the 23-strong Ukrainian team was represented by a lone flagbearer in an apparent protest at the presence of Russian troops in Ukraines Crimean peninsula. UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Top-ranked Duke bounced back from its loss to Kansas by beating Penn State, but watched another player go down with an injury.Freshman Frank Jackson led five players in double figures with 17 points and Amile Jefferson added 16 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Blue Devils to a 78-68 win Saturday in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament.Sophomore Chase Jeter rolled his left ankle in the first half and didnt return.Tony Carr had 20 points and Shep Garner added 15 to lead Penn State (2-2).Jeter went down under the Penn State basket while going for a rebound. The 6-foot-10 sophomore was on the floor for several minutes before being helped off the court. His injury came minutes after Grayson Allen left the game, favoring the right foot he hurt in the recent loss to Kansas.Allen went back to the locker room, but returned to the floor a few minutes later. He finished with 12 points and needs just three more to become the 65th Duke player with 1,000 points for his career.Matt Jones and Luke Kennard added 15 points each for Duke.Were banged up more than any team Ive ever coached, said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. Before the game and then during the game. I mean, Amile has been hurt this week. He has 15 rebounds and 16 points.Despite the injuries, the Blue Devils went on an early 13-2 run that turned a tie game into a 21-10 lead. They led 36-24 at the half, despite some poor shooting from Allen and Kennard, who were a combined 4-15 from the floor. But Jackson picked up the slack, scoring 11 of his points before intermission.To be able to have the next man up, coach does a good job motivating us, Jones said. We didnt come to Duke to lose, be second fiddle or bow down to anybody. We know what were capable of and everyone on that sideline can help. That confidence that is instilled in us, takes us to where we need to go.A 3-point play by Allen stretched the lead to 64-51 midway through the second half.Penn State trailed 72-57 wiith just under 5 minutes to play, but went on a 9-2 run before the Blue Devils closed out the game.dddddddddddd.Dukes short bench outscored Penn States 19-5.BIG PICTUREDuke: Jeters injury further depletes a Blue Devils team that is still without three highly touted freshmen -- Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden -- as well as junior Sean Obi. They may have just seven players available for Sundays championship game. Krzyzewski pegged Jeters status for the game as doubtful.I know if he can play, he will play, Krzyzewski said. Were going to try and win. We would like to win.Penn State: The Nittany Lions are using the tournament as a measuring stick to see how the young team stacks up against top-level competition. This was the programs first game against a No. 1 ranked team since 2011, and theyre now 0-14 in those games.We took another step today, said coach Patrick Chambers. We got better. And thats our goal Just keep getting better. Its a process thats going to take some time, but were going to eventually get there.POLL IMPLICATIONSDuke was No. 1 in the preseason poll and the first voting of the regular season, but likely will fall a few spots after its loss to Kansas. How far may depend on how they do in this tournament.PERIMETER DEFENSEDuke held Penn State to six 3-point baskets on 21 attempts. Thats not a fluke. The Blue Devils held their first three opponents under 15 percent from the outside and were giving up fewer than three 3-pointers a game coming into the tournament. Duke was 9 for 24 from 3-point range.UP NEXTDuke will play either Cincinnati or Rhode Island in the tournaments championship game Sunday afternoon.Penn State will play the loser of the second game in the tournaments consolation game.----More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. ' ' '