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Six-time world champion MC Mary Kom will not participate in the upcoming National Women’s Boxing Championships due to a lack of preparations. Her coach Chotte Lal Yadav said they learned about the dates for the competition late and hence could not start sparring.
In an exclusive conversation with Sportskeeda, he said:
“We got to know about the boxing nationals just 15 days back. Mary Kom has been training but you need to train differently for competitions. So, we were not ready for it and hence took the decision to skip it.”
Mary Kom, 38, though, continues to train for the World Championships, which will be held in early December in Istanbul, Turkey.
Although the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has announced that the gold medallists from the Nationals will be selected for the squad, there could be trials in a few weight categories. This includes the 48kg division, which Mary Kom would compete in.
Chotte Lal said the veteran pugilist is fit and ready to return to the ring if trials are held to select the team for the World Championships.
“Even though we are skipping the Nationals, it does not mean Mary Kom was not fit. She was training one time and had the fitness. But she was not ready for it mentally. You need sparring too. So, if BFI organizes the trials for the worlds, we will throw our hat in the fray,” he said.
Lovlina Borgohain will join Mary Kom and skip the Nationals
Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) will join Mary Kom and skip the Nationals. The Assamese boxer has been given direct selection for the world event based on her Tokyo performance.
The other two Tokyo Olympians, Simranjit Kaur (60kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg), will be competing at the nationals.
The women’s boxing World Championships will be held in Istanbul in early December and will offer a total prize money of USD 2.6 million, the same amount marked for the men’s event, due to start on October 24 in Belgrade, Serbia.
