Panghal in focus as Indian boxers fight in final qualifiers for Paris

BANGKOK, May 23: Indian pugilists will be determined to overcome the recent setbacks both inside and outside the boxing ring when they aim for the last available tickets to the Olympic Games at the second World Qualification, starting here on Friday.
Up until the last qualifying event, Indian boxers had four quotas but in an unprecedented embarrassment, that number is now down to three after women’s 57kg holder Parveen Hooda was handed a 22-month ban for whereabouts failure this month.
The boxers’ performance at the previous world qualifiers was dismal to say the least with only 2023 world championship bronze-medallist Nishant Dev moving past the opening round.
This also triggered a coaching crisis. High Performance Director Bernard Dunne handed his resignation during the first World qualifier itself.
The Boxing Federation of India has made several changes with India’s lone male world championship silver-medallist Amit Panghal finally back the mix after Deepak Bhoria failed to win a quota in the first two qualifying events in the 51kg category. Panghal is coming off a gold-winning run earlier this year and the 2022 Commonwealth Games. He will have only one shot at making the Olympics and will look to make the most of it.
Squad:
Women: Jaismine Lamboria (57kg), Ankushita Boro (60kg), Arundhati Choudhary (66kg).
Men: Amit Panghal (51kg), Sachin Siwach Jr. (57kg), Abhinash Jamwal (63.5kg), Nishant Dev (71kg), Abhimanyu Loura (80kg), Sanjeet (92kg), Narender Berwal (+92kg). (PTI)