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It is not just the India’s male boxers who are bearing the brunt of the headless federation (here, it is worth recalling that the AIBA appointed ad-hoc committee has been entrusted with the responsibility of finding a group to run the sport in the country) – the female boxers, too, have been at the receiving end of lack of international competitions-cum training sessions that used to be a regular feature when the sport was run by a fully-fledged federation.
Given all the administrative roadblocks the Indian women boxers have shown that ‘off-ring developments’ are no way going to hamper what they dish out in the ring. The Indian pugilists turned in an impressive performance in the 2015 Asian Boxing Championship held in Wulanchabu, China, bagging six medals – one silver and five bronze.
Saweety Boora won the silver in the 81 kg category, while Sarjubala Devi (48 kg), Meena Kumari (54kg), Pwilao Basumatary (57kg), Pooja Rani (75 kg) and Seema Poonia(81+kg) cornered a bronze medal each. India had the second highest number of boxers (six) in the semifinal stage only behind hosts China, who had eight boxers in the last four stage and ahead of countries like South Korea, Kazakhstan and Uzbeskistan – which speaks volumes about the gritty showing of our pugilists.
Indian women boxers earlier had a great run in the 2015 President’s Cup, with Sarjubala Devi (48 kg) and Pinki Jangra (51 kg) winning gold, as they were crowned overall champions for the first time. Things may not be rosy administratively, but on the ring Indian women boxers have shown that they have the ammunition to surprise many at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“All our women boxers are quite talented – they had a good run in the 2015 Asian Boxing Championship. Saweeta did well to reach the final of the 81 kg and even Sarjubala, Pooja, Meena, Pwilao and Seema also performed well,” says Indian women’s boxing coach Anoop Kumar. However, all this solid performances will not count for much as the 2016 Rio Olympics only has three medals on offer for lightweight, flyweight and middleweight.
More importantly, iconic boxer MC Mary Kom will have to fight off the likes of highly talented Sarjubala Devi and Pinki Jangra for the 51 kg category. Anoop, a former national-level boxer, who has been with the Indian women boxing team since 2001, believes problem of plenty is not a bad thing for Indian women.
“It’s good to have two-three boxers pushing each another for one slot. It is too early to talk about who stands better chance of qualifying for the Olympics,” he quips.
