Deepak Bhoria and Amit Panghal
– Photo: Social Media
Expansion
World Championship bronze medalist boxers Deepak Bhoria (51kg) of Hisar in Haryana and Nishant Dev (71kg) of Karnal, also in Haryana, were on Saturday included in the Indian boxing team for the Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China. The Asian Games will be held from September 23 to October 8. The boxing competition at the Asian Games assumes significance as it is also the first qualifier tournament for boxers to book a berth for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Reigning Asian Games champion and 2019 World Championships silver-medallist Amit Panghal will not be able to defend his title as he once again fell short of Deepak and failed to make it to the team. Panghal, a two-time Commonwealth Games medalist and 2019 Asian champion, had lost out to Deepak in making it to this year’s World Championships under the new selection policy of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI). The BFI, under its new selection policy, assesses boxers on various parameters for two-three weeks. Deepak and Nishant had put up a strong performance at the World Championships in May. Both had to face defeat in a close semi-final match.
Shiv Thapa succeeded in making a place
Among men, veteran Shiva Thapa will represent the country in the super lightweight category (63.5kg). World youth champion (2021) Sachin Siwach will fight in the 57kg category instead of 54 in the absence of World Championship bronze medalist Mohd Hussamuddin. Hussamuddin is recovering from an injury sustained in the quarterfinals of the World Championships in May. Former Asian champion Sanjeet (92kg), Lakshya Chahar (80kg) and Narendra Berwal also made it to the team.
Parveen, Jasmine and Arundhati included in the women’s team
Last year’s World Championships bronze-winner Parveen Hooda (57kg) from Haryana’s Roorkee, Commonwealth Games bronze-winner Jasmine Lamboria (60kg), Arundhati Chowdhary and Preeti Pawar have found place in the women’s team, which also includes Olympic medalist Nikhat Zareen (51kg). kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg).
Two-time world champion Nikhat and Tokyo Olympics bronze-winner Lovlina had automatically qualified for the Asian Games after reaching the finals of the World Championships in March. Reigning 48kg women’s world champion Neetu Ghanghas also failed to make the cut as she was pipped by Preeti Pawar in the 54kg category.