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Deepak beats Panghal again to secure place for Olympic qualifier
Hussamuddin comes back from injury even as the men's boxing team remains on the lookout for their first Paris Olympics quota
World championships bronze medallists Deepak Bhoria (51kg) and Mohammed Hussamuddin (57kg) have comfortably made it to the Indian team for the World Qualification Tournament for the Paris Olympics, scheduled to take place in Busto Arsizio, Italy from February 29. It is the second Olympic qualifiers in boxing after Asian Games, where none of the men boxers could win a Olympic quota
Bhoria has been picked ahead of Tokyo Olympian Amit Panghal after an evaluation process by the high-performance unit. He had also edged past Panghal in the team for the Asian Games.
In the new selection criteria replacing selection trials, boxers are evaluated across 15 performance parameters. They are judged for 'potential for success at the international level, weight management, strength and conditioning, health management and performance in training -- in which a boxer is assessed in 10 separate tactical and technical criteria during training and sparring sessions. The consolidated marks after two weeks of assessment show a big gulf between Deepak (483 pts) and Panghal (466). Six boxers went through the evaluation test in the 51kg weight class.
According to chief coach CA Kuttappa who is part of the high-performance team that evaluated the boxers, Deepak scored over Panghal in a number of areas, especially in technical and tactical execution during sparring (bouts) at the camp.
"We rate boxers on their technical game and ability to execute tactical plans in the ring keeping in mind international standards. Deepak fared better in sparring sessions with other boxers and even against Amit, he was more active right from the first round," said Kuttappa.
Panghal, the 2018 Asian Games gold medallist, has found it difficult to make a comeback into the team since the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where he won gold. Panghal had moved court against BFI over his exclusion from the Asian Games team. In Hangzhou, Deepak lost to Tomoya Tsuboi of Japan and now needs to grab his second opportunity. In WQT, 28 Olympic quotas -- four in each of the seven weight categories in men's competition-- will be up for grabs. A second Olympic qualification tournament will be held in May in Bangkok.
Hussamuddin, who missed the Asian Games due to a knee surgery, is back after a six month rehab period that has gone well. He was ahead of the rest of the field with 481 points, with Sachin finishing a close second (471).
"Hussamuddin has done so well in national camp and during evaluation even after coming from injury, we really hope he is able to deliver," said Kuttappa.
The closest fight was between world championships bronze medallist Nishant Dev and national champion Akash Sangwan for the 71kg spot. Nishant piped Akash 455-449. Akash is a welterweight category (67kg) boxer and was competing in a higher weight class, while Nishant had to come down to 71kg.
Six-time Asian Championships medallist Shiva Thapa, National champions Lakshya Chahar (80kg), Sanjeet Kumar (92kg), 2022 Asian Games bronze medallist Narender Berwal (+92kg) were also selected.
Four women boxers - Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) have secured Olympic berths at the Asian Games. and World bronze medallist Jaismine Lamboria (60kg), and the youth world champion Ankushita Boro (66kg), were picked to compete in the Olympic qualifiers for the two remaining berths. Boro had finished second to Arundhati Choudhary in the National Championships a month back but during the evaluation she finished on top with 446 points as against Choudhary's 428 to get the go ahead.
