Indian contingent arrives in Dubai for Asian Boxing C’ships
- 22 May 2021
The Indian boxing contingent, led by Asian Games gold medallist Amit Panghal and six-time world champion MC Mary Kom, landed in Dubai on Saturday to compete in the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships (ABC) from May 24.
Posting pictures of the contingent at the Dubai international airport, the Boxing Federation of India (BF) tweeted, “Contingent has landed safely in Dubai earlier today and our boxers are all set for the upcoming ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships.”
The players were issued visas on arrival and will undergo RT-PCR tests before they are allowed to commence training. All the players, coaches and support staff were in a bio-secure bubble in India.
The prevailing travel ban had created doubts over the team’s participation but the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), the UAE government and Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) worked together to secure the team’s travel.
The UAE government, Indian ambassador to UAE, Pavan Kapoor, and ASBC president Anas Alotaiba had helped secure the team’s travel to Dubai.
The contingent is in the most crucial phase of training ahead of the Olympics and the Dubai event is expected to provide it with the necessary exposure.
The tournament was initially scheduled in New Delhi but was shifted to Dubai due to travel restrictions.
The Indian coaches and officials have worked hard in the recent years to build up a strong team, and after their amazing performance at the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships, the country is ready to challenge Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan at the ASBC Asian Men’s & Women’s Elite Boxing Championships in Dubai.
India’s boxing icon Chungneijang Mary Kom Hmangte is six-times AIBA Women’s World Champion, five-times ASBC Asian Women’s Champion, Asian Games winner and Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
She will be competing at the flyweight (51kg) in Dubai where almost all of the Indian women boxers are among the favourites in their categories.
Among their male boxers, Amit Panghal (52kg), Shiva Thapa (64kg) and Vikas Krishan Yadav (69kg) were already medallists in previous AIBA World Boxing Championships.
Uzbekistan claimed four gold medals in the last edition of the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships but their target is more in the new edition. The head coach of the Uzbek male national team Marat Kurbanov selected their best line-ups and informed us about their preparations and targets.
“Our boxers took part in the prestigious Governor International Cup in St. Petersburg, Russia which was our last successful preparation event before the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships.
“We continued our preparations in our base camp in Yangiabad at the Tashkent region and the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships will be our last test before the Tokyo Olympic Games,” said Kurbanov.
“We are planning a 10-day recovery after the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships and a new training camp in Yangiabad in Yangiabad and after the last one in Japan from July 6. The conditions for training were arranged by the Uzbekistan Boxing Federation and the Uzbekistan National Olympic Committee,” he added.
“Our President issued a decree for further developments of boxing Uzbekistan and our sport have got more and more attractions every year. Boxing is personally considered by our President therefore we need to work twice as hard as ever.
“The number of boxers have multiplied in Uzbekistan, we have the reputation and we will try to continue our wonderful results,” summarized the head coach.
The ASBC Asian Elite Men’s and Women’s Boxing Championships will be starting from the May 21 and it is extended until the of June 1 in the new venue in Dubai. Uzbekistan achieved altogether eleven quotas for the Tokyo Olympic Games at the Asian & Oceanian Olympic Boxing Qualifying Event in Amman on March 2020 and after based on the BTF ranking system.
Indian squad: (Men): Vinod Tanwar (49kg), Amit Panghal (52kg), Mohammad Hussamuddin (56kg), Varinder Singh (60kg), Shiva Thapa (64kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg), Ashish Kumar (75kg), Sumit Sangwan (81kg), Sanjeet (91kg) and Narender (+91kg).
(Women): Monika (48kg), MC Mary Kom (51kg), Sakshi (54kg), Jasmine (57kg), Simranjeet Kaur (60kg), Lalbuatsaihi (64kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Pooja Rani (75kg), Saweety (81kg) and Anupama (+81kg).
