New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS): Olympic-bound boxer Manish Kaushik on Friday thanked the Sports Ministry for considering his name for the Arjuna award.

He also shared an interesting incident with IANS. The pugilist, who is currently attending the national camp in Patiala, turned emotional when he got to know about his name being mentioned in the final list of Arjuna awardees.

"When I finished training, I saw so many missed calls on my phone. I got scared and dialled my family first. They informed me about the news. I got emotional and it was unbelievable. My family is very happy right now.

"I really want to thank the government. Despite so many problems arising out of the pandemic, the government has helped us in all possible ways to train for the Olympics. This award will motivate me to give the government a return gift like an Olympic medal," Manish said.

The award will be conferred on August 29, which is the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand. The day is also celebrated as National Sports Day.

Manish has already created waves with a gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2018. That was followed by a bronze at the World Championships last year.

In March 2020, he also qualified for his maiden Olympics at the Asian qualifiers in Jordan, one of the final few tournaments before the world came to a halt due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Speaking about his training post the lockdown, Manish said he feels he is at the best of his prowess.

"My training is going great. The coaches are helping in improving my speed and power of the punch. I also watch videos of qualified boxers in my category. I watch how they fight, their style and so on. I hope such things will come in handy if and when I get to face them in Tokyo," Manish added.