Bhaskar Bhatt on Sunday resigned as coach of the Indian women’s boxing national team. According to reports, Bhatt took this decision following his appointment as the High Performance Director at the Sports Authority of India.
The development emerges with less than three months until the Asian Games, which will serve as the first qualifier for the Paris Olympics in 2024.
“When I was named the SAI HPD for boxing a few days back, it came with a lot of responsibilities. I wanted to do justice to my new role,” Bhatt said, as reported by PTI.
He added: “At the national camp (in NIS Patiala), the HPD (Bernard Dunne) is there and the foreign coach (Dmitry Dmitruk) is also there to assess and guide the girls so I requested that I be allowed to concentrate on my new role full time.”
Bhatt was appointed head of the senior women’s team, in November 2021. He was an assistant coach with them from 2005 to 2012, and was handed the responsibility of the youth team in 2017.
Under his stewardship, Nikhat Zareen won a gold for India at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in 2022. Manisha Moun and Parveen Hooda had returned with a bronze medal.
At the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, Nitu Ghanghas and Zareen won gold while Jaismine won a bronze.
The Indian women had a memorable showing at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships 2023 as India returned with four medals, thanks to Zareen, Ghanghas, Lovlina Borgohain and Saweety Boora.