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Bhaskar Bhatt, India's chief women’s boxing coach, hopes to build on the performance of the national team at the World Boxing Championship held in May to reap a good harvest at next month’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
India clinched three medals, with one of them being gold won by Nikhat Zareen at the World Championships. Two other boxers won bronze medals, while eight athletes reached the quarterfinal stage of the event.
“The last couple of months have been good in terms of performance as well as training,” Bhatt told Sportskeeda after Monday’s training session. “With Commonwealth Games around the corner, we are laying more emphasis on polishing ring craft of the individuals selected for the Indian team.”
Earlier this month, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) selected four women boxers for the Commonwealth Games. Newly crowned world boxing champion Nikhat Zareen in 50kg and Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain in 70kg are the two most prominent boxers in the team. Promising boxer Nitu Ghangas in 49kg and Jaismine Lamboriya in 60kg also won tickets to Birmingham.
India’s celebrated boxer and Olympic medallist MC Marykom, who won a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, pulled out of the national selection trials due to a knee injury. Three other Indian women boxers, who competed at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, didn’t advance to the medal round in their respective weight categories.
“The women’s boxing team bound for Birmingham is on the right track. All the boxers have the potential to win medals,” Bhatt insisted.
According to the chief coach, the final preparations for the Commonwealth Games will start on July 10 at the Belfast International Camp in Ireland.
The international exposure tour has been approved by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the national team, including eight male boxers, will leave for Ireland in the second week of July.
“Several boxers from other Commonwealth Games countries are coming to Belfast. It will be the right platform to have good sparring partners and fine-tune minor faults,” the chief coach explained.
Boxers from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and hosts Ireland will attend the international camp in Belfast.
“The international camp will also enable the Indian boxers to acclimatize to local weather conditions ahead of the main competition,” Bhatt added.
India’s main rivals in the women’s group, according to Bhatt, will be boxers from Ireland and Great Britain.
“The key part of the preparation is to get ready for any sort of challenge during the competition in Birmingham,” Bhatt concluded.
