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New Delhi, December 28: Six-time world champion Mary Kom (51kg) and former world junior champion Sakshi Chaudhary (57kg) along with three other boxers booked their berths in the Indian women’s squad for Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualifiers at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday. The others making up the five-women squad are former World Championships bronze medallist Simranjit Kaur (60kg), two-time World Championships bronze winner Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Asian Champion Pooja Rani (75kg).
In an enticing battle between youth and experience, it was youth which prevailed as Sakshi upset 2016 World Championships silver medallist Sonia Lather to start the final day of the women’s boxing trials. Sakshi had earlier shown her prowess in her win over World Championships quarter finalists Manisha Moun and continued that momentum to dash Lather’s hopes.
“Winning an Olympic medal for my country has been a dream and I am delighted that I am one step closer to it with this win. Would give my best to secure a Tokyo berth,” said Sakshi after her win.
Simranjit, who dazzled in a flawless win over Pavitra yesterday, staved off a stiff challenge from former world champion Sarita Devi to secure her place in 60kg. In a much-awaited contest, 2012 London Olympic bronze medallist Mary Kom continued her quest for a second Olympic medal as she beat former world junior champion Nikhat Zareen in a repeat of their India Open clash. Both had been in smashing form in the semi-finals. While Nikhat had outpunched Jyoti, Mary had beaten youngster Ritu Grewal.
Having secured her place in the Indian squad, the experienced Mary Kom said, “My only focus is the Olympics and I am training hard towards it. I am determined to win a medal at the Olympics for my country.”
In 69kg, Lovlina proved too strong for Lalita and in 75kg, Pooja Rani produced a flurry of punches to blank Nupur. Lovlina had earlier made it to the final on the back of a strong display against Anjali whereas Lalita dropped a point to beat Meena Rani. In the 75kg semi-finals, Pooja Rani easily beat Indraja while Nupur had knocked out experienced Saweeta Boora.
With Indian women’s boxing being on an upward curve, the trials witnessed some high-quality bouts that further showed the depth of Indian boxing.
“BFI’s goal is always to be transparent and for the first time, a trial has been covered with such transparency, where all the media, including Olympic Channel, was covering and updating the trials realtime,” said Ajay Singh, President, Boxing Federation of India (BFI).
“We witnessed great excitement and some enthralling fights on both days of the trials. I wish them all the best. Even the boxers who lost, displayed some amazing fighting spirit and that shows how good our bench strength is and it is only going to go upwards from here,” he added.
The Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be held from 3-14 February 2020 in Wuhan, China.
The Indian squad:
Mary Kom – 51kg
Sakshi Chaudhary – 57kg
Simranjit Chakar – 60kg
Lovlina Borgohain – 69kg
Pooja Rani – 75kg
