Women's Boxing World Championship: India eye strong show at home

Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain will be at the forefront as India eye a show befitting their growing stature in womens boxing when the World Championship whose buildup was marred by controversies begins here from ThursdayIn the absence of the iconic sixtime champion MC Mary Kom who is recovering from an ACL tear in her left knee world champion Nikhat and Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina will spearhead the 12member Indian teamBoth boxers will look to find their footing in new weight categories with the Paris Olympics approachingWorld No 4 Nikhat cut down her weight from 52kg the weight category in which she found glory last year in Turkey to 50kgLovlina on the other hand has bulked up from the 69kg welterweight class to the 75kg middleweight division after both their preferred weight categories were scrapped for the 2024 Paris OlympicsThis will be Nikhats second international tournament after dropping down to 50kg She won the Commonwealth Games gold in the light fly weight division but the field wasnt that strong in BirminghamHowever that will not be the case here Being an Olympic weight category Nikhat will have to face some of the top boxers on her way to the podiumAlthough Lovlina won the Asian Championships in the 75kg division she is still adapting to her new weight class The twotime Worlds bronze medallist has been working extensively on increasing her strength and adding power to her punches a must for succeeding in the higher weight classesThe focus has been on improving the power in my punches as my opponents will be much stronger than what I encountered in the 69kg category Lovlina told PTIThe spotlight will also be on CWG champion Nitu Ganghas 48kg and last editions bronze medallist Manisha Maun 57kgThe likes of Sakshi Chaudhary 52kg Preeti 54kg Shashi Chopra 63kg Sanamcha Chanu 70kg are expected to create a flutterIt is the third time India is hosting the prestigious event But a series of boycotts the conflict between the International Boxing Association IBA and the International Olympic Committee IOC and a court case have taken the sheen off the tournamentAlso readLovlina looks to overcome jinx by winning gold at Worlds says three bronze are enoughOver 10 countries including the likes of USA Britain and Ireland pulled out of the event after the IBA headed by Russian Umar Kremlev allowed boxers from Russia and Belarus to compete under their own flag against the IOCs recommendationAdditionally the ongoing tussle between the two world bodies has created a lot of confusion as the IOC said it would be in charge of the 2024 Paris Olympics qualifiers and not the IBA which has be under suspension since 2019But the IBA went on and announced that they would conduct the qualification events and the mens and womens World Championships this year would be the main qualifiersKremlev on Tuesday clarified that the IOC will remain in charge of the qualifying events adding that the two bodies need to cooperate and coordinate He however asserted that that all the qualification tournaments shall be managed by IBAAnother dispute arose within the national camp as reigning national champions Manju Rani 48kg Shiksha Narwal 54kg and Poonam Poonia 60kg moved court after they couldnt make the cut for the World Championships under Boxing Federation of Indias new selection policyUnder the new policy the boxers underwent an evaluation process for three weeks where they were judged on various parameters with Nitu Preeti and Jaismine Lamboria being selected for the tournamentThe Delhi High Court eventually refused to interfere in the issueThe 13th edition of the championship will feature over 300 boxers from 65 countries and the goldwinners will walk away with a prize money of USD 100000The silver medallists are to be given USD 50000 and both bronzemedallists will be awarded USD 25000 eachIndia returned with a haul of three medals including a gold in the last editionThe Indian team would hope to match its 2006 performance at home when the boxers won eight medals including four goldsSquad Nitu Ghanghas 48kg Nikhat Zareen 50kg Sakshi Chaudhary 52kg Preeti 54kg Manisha Moun 57kg Jaismine Lamboria 60kg Shashi Chopra 63kg Manju Bamboria 66kg Sanamcha Chanu 70kg Lovlina Borgohain 75kg Saweety Boora 81kg and Nupur Sheoran 81kgThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever