Lovlina Borgohain and Shiva Thapa will headline the 25-member Indian squad at the ASBC Elite Boxing Championships 2022 at Amman, Jordan, set to begin from October 30. Meanwhile, other big names such as Nikhat Zareen, Nitu Ghangas and Amit Panghal will be absent from the event, according to a report on Olympics.com.

Also missing the event will be Commonwealth Games medallists Rohit Tokas and Sagar Ahlawat will not be featuring in the Championships.

Thapa who took home gold in 2013, bronze in 2015, silver in 2017 and bronze in 2019, will be hoping to keep up with his reputation as the most successful Indian male boxer at the Asian Championships and hope to exorcise the ghosts of the early exit in the Commonwealth Games.

Similarly, Lovlina Borgohain, who too has had a forgettable year having missed out on a medal in both the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games, will be hoping to add to her bronze from the last edition.

Like Nikhat Zareen made the switch from 52kg to 50kg category, in a bid to strengthen her campaign for the Olympic category, Lovlina too has decided to move from the 75kg weight division instead of her welterweight 69kg category.

Lovlina Borgohain, after National Games gold medal, said she was happy with the switch to the 75kg division after the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. “I wanted to test myself in the new weight category. It isn’t easy to come back after an injury but I pushed myself to be match ready for the Asian Championships,” she had said.

Some names to watch out for are World championship bronze medallist Parveen Hooda who will compete in the women’s 63kg category and Youth World Boxing champion Alfiya Pathan in the women’s +81kg category. Additionally, two-time Commonwealth bronze medallist Mohammad Hussamuddin will also feature in the tournament in the men’s 57kg category along with reigning national champion in the men’s 75kg category, Sumit Kundu.

Also read: Boxing: Parveen Hooda went from a fighter in school to a boxer with a World C’ships bronze

Ahead of the tournament, the big news off the ring is that Bernard Dunne, a well-known name in the boxing community, has joined the Indian set-up as the High-Performance Director after a fruitful five-year stint with the Irish Athletic Boxing Association in the same capacity.

The 42-year-old will take over the charge of the position which was left vacant after Santiago Nieva’s departure. Indian boxers have produced brilliant performances in the last few years at the prestigious events including World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

“India has huge boxing talent and its boxers have been performing exceedingly well. It will be a great opportunity for me to work with them and contribute to their success. I’m very excited to join the team and take the standards of Indian boxing to a new high altogether,” said Dunne in a BFI press statement following his appointment.

Dunne led the Irish high-performance boxing team from 2017 to 2022 and under his leadership they performed at the highest level, winning European, World and Olympics gold medals. Dunne has stated that his goal is to perform similar work with the Boxing Federation of India through the performance of his teams.

Dunne believes that the upcoming Championships are a ‘launchpad’ for the Paris Olympics and that in the absence of more accomplished pugilists, it is an opportunity for the others to shine.

Speaking about the existing and emerging talent in Indian boxing in an interview with News9, he said, “You look at the Indian team that is going to these Asian Boxing Championships…I’ve been watching them train every day. And it’s fantastic to see that talent. And then you look at the talent that’s actually not going to the Asian Championships! This can be a fantastic team with the right structures and the right processes in place around how we prepare for battle, how our athletes plan for Paris 2024, which is the ultimate goal.”

The Indian boxing contingent for the left for Amman in the early hours of Saturday. The official draw will take place on October 31 and the bouts will begin from November 1. In the previous edition held in Dubai last year, Indian pugilists won 16 medals and ensured the country’s best-ever show at the event.

Squad: 

Men: Govind Sahani (48kg), Sparsh Kumar (51kg), Ananta Chopade (54kg), Md. Hussamuddin (57kg), Etash Khan (60kg), Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), Amit Kumar (67kg), Sachin (71kg), Sumit (75kg), Lakshya (80kg), Kapil (86kg), Naveen (92kg), Narender (+92kg).

Women: Monika (48kg), Savita (50kg), Minakshi (52kg), Sakshi (54kg), Preeti (57kg), Simranjit (60kg), Parveen (63kg), Ankushita Boro (66kg), Pooja (70kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), Saweety (81kg), Alfiya Pathan (+81kg).

— updated with BFI inputs on October 29

With inputs from Olympics.com.