A 13-member boxing team, spearheaded by Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain, will represent India at the Asian Games 2023, which will be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8 this year.
Star names like Amit Panghal, a 2018 Asian Games and 2022 Commonwealth Games champion, and Nitu Ghanghas, the reigning world and CWG champion in the women’s 48kg, however, are not part of the Indian boxing team for Asian Games 2023.
The Indian boxing team for the Asian Games 2023 comprises seven men and six women.
Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen (women’s 51kg) and Tokyo 2020 Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (women’s 75kg) had won berths for the Hangzhou Games after making the finals of their respective categories at the World Boxing Championships 2023 held in New Delhi earlier this year.
The others were selected after assessment by India’s new High Performance Director Bernard Dunne and other members of the coaching team, including chief foreign coach Dmitry Dmitruk, during a national camp in Patiala last month.
The new selection process implemented by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), which favours internal assessment in place of traditional selection trials, concluded on July 1.
Amit Panghal, who was India’s only boxing gold medallist at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, was a part of the camp but it was Deepak Bhoria who got the nod for the men’s 51kg berth over Panghal.
Deepak Bhoria won a bronze medal in the 51kg category at the 2023 Men’s World Boxing Championships in Tashkent. Bhoria’s fellow worlds bronze medallist Nishant Dev was chosen in the 71kg.
Another bronze medallist from Tashkent, Mohammad Hussamuddin, missed out as he is recovering from a knee injury that he suffered during the world championships quarter-finals in May. Sachin Siwach, moving up from the 54kg division, will represent India in Hussamuddin’s pet 57kg event.
Veteran Shiva Thapa, a six-time Asian medallist, fended off a stiff challenge from Abinash Jamwal and fellow world championship medallist Manish Kaushik to seal the men’s 63.5kg slot.
Young Lakshay Chahar, coming back after recovering from an injury, saw off Ashish Kumar for the 80kg berth. Olympian Vikas Krishan was ruled out after undergoing surgery for a bicep injury.
Another big miss from the Indian boxing team for Hangzhou will be youngster Nitu Ghanghas. The 22-year-old recently became the world champion in the women’s 48kg in New Delhi but since her category is no longer an Olympic weight division, she was forced to move up to the 54kg.
Nikhat Zareen occupying the 51kg division didn’t help Nitu’s case.
Nitu Ghanghas managed to make the cut for the national camp in the 54kg category after fighting her way through selection trials but the final spot went to Preeti Pawar. Saweety Boora, who became the women’s 81kg world champion in New Delhi, also missed out.
Former Asian champion Sanjeet, worlds medallist Parveen Hooda and former world youth champion Arundhati Choudhary made the final squad.
Indian boxing team for Asian Games 2023
Women: Nikhat Zareen (51kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg), Jaismine Lamboria (60kg), Arundhati Choudhary (66kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75kg)
Men: Deepak Bhoria (51kg), Sachin Siwach (57kg), Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), Nishant Dev (71kg), Lakshya Chahar (80kg), Sanjeet (92kg), Narender Berwal (+92kg)
