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Nikhat Zareen selected for boxing trials of Olympic qualifiers
Mary Kom has been ranked one, Nikhat was given a second ranking, while Jyoti and Ritu have been ranked third and fourth respectively.
After an anxious wait, young Nikhat Zareen’s path to challenge MC Mary Kom was finally cleared on Saturday as she was included in the trials for the first Olympics qualifier to be held here on Dec 27-28 at the IG Stadium. The first qualifier will be held in Wuhan, China, from Feb 3-14.
Six-time world champion Mary Kom, who won bronze at the Asian Championships, has been given top billing with Zareen seeded second. Jyoti Gulia and Ritu Grewal are the others in the fray. Gulia defeated Grewal in the national championships final held in Kannur, Kerala from December 1-8.
Zareen was kept waiting till the meeting of the national coaches on Saturday to decide the final list of boxers for the trials. Mary Kom, Gulia and Grewal were in the mix and a fourth boxer was due to be picked by the coaches on the basis performances in the year, including the Big Bout League held in the country.
“Zareen was given second seeding as she had a very good year and was second in rankings during the camp,” a selection committee member said. Zareen won bronze at the Asian Championships and the India Open, where she lost to Mary Kom in the semi-finals. She won gold in the Standja Memorial tournament in Bulgaria and silver at Thailand Open.
A trial was scheduled in the 51kg before the world championships in October but Mary Kom sought an exemption and was given direct entry. She had moved up to the Olympic weight division (51kg) earlier this year, winning gold at the India Open and President’s Cup.
In a surprise selection in the men’s section, Sumit Sangwan, who has tested positive for doping, has been picked for trials in the 81kg. A Boxing Federation of India official said Sangwan will be considered only if his name is cleared by the disciplinary panel of the National Anti Doping Agency. “He has not been provisionally suspended and his appeal is pending. Only if he gets a clean chit will he take part in the trials,” the official added.
Olympian Sumit recently tested positive for diuretic acetazolamide. The men’s trials will be held in Bellary, Karnataka on December 29-30.
There was intense competition in 57kg and 69kg and the national coaches had to do some brain storming. The 57kg will have the toughest fight with world championships quarter-finalists Kavinder Bisht, former youth word champion Sachin Siwach and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Mohammad Hussamuddin in the fray. Hussamuddin defeated Siwach in the national championships final. For the fourth spot in the trials, 2018 Commonwealth Games 52kg champion Gaurav Solanki was picked over Gaurav Bidhuri, the 2017 world championships bronze medallist. Solanki’s win over Bidhuri in the Big Bout League proved crucial.
In 69kg, Vikas Krishan, making a comeback to amateur boxing, was chosen with Duryodhan Negi and Naveen Boora, the national champion. Ashish Kulehria was the fourth boxer. He was picked after his win over Olympian Manoj Kumar in the final of the Big Bout League between Punjab Panthers and Gujarat Giants on Saturday.
Amit Panghal (51kg) and Manish Kaushik (63kg) were given direct entries to the qualifiers in their division. Panghal won silver and Kaushik bronze at the world championships.
