Nikhat Zareen (52kg), Manisha (57kg) and Parveen (63kg) continued their stellar run at the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Istanbul on Monday by advancing to the semi-finals but five other Indians bowed out after suffering quarter-final losses.
How athletes have strived for achieving greatness during extraordinary times.
A summary of the country's athletes' showing at the Games on Saturday, July 31.
Manish defeated Denmark's Nikolai Terteryan in a split decision.
The team reached Dubai on Saturday after being held up for over two hours in the flight, of which close to one hour was mid air
The Indian men's boxing team's final campaign at the 35th Boxam International Tournament in Castellon, Spain was derailed by a positive COVID-19 case in the side, resulting in three withdrawals from the summit clashes.
World Championships bronze medallist Manish Kaushik (63kg) became the ninth Indian boxer to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics after beating Australia's Harrison Garside in a brutal box-off at the Asian Qualifiers, in Amman, Jordan, on Wednesday.
A source close to the team said the top members of the coaching staff are among those who have tested positive.
Mary Kom fought back in the final three minutes but that was not enough to get the judges' nod.
Sakshi had prevailed 3-2 in the regulation bout but the decision was challenged by the Kazakh team and eventually overturned; Mary Kom marches into final.
Also ending with a bronze was tournament debutant and national champion Varinder Singh (60kg) after a high-intensity clash against Iran's Daniyal Shahbakhsh. The Indian lost 2-3 after fighting his heart out.
Five-time World champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) pipped arch-rival Pinki Jangra to the India's women's squad, while World Championships bronze medallist Shiva Thapa (56kg) made the cut in a star-studded men's boxing team for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in China from March 23.
Asian champion L Sarita Devi (60kg) on Saturday took her first step towards the London Games qualification after she posted an easy win over Azerbaijan's Ayzanat Hajiyeva in the opening round of the Women's World Championships-cum-Olympic Qualifiers in Qinhuangdao, China.
Mary Kom (51kg) will open her campaign against Dominica's Miguelina Hernandez on July 25; Panghal gets bye into pre-quarters.
It was a stunning loss for Panghal, who had won a gold medal in the Cologne World Cup a couple of months back. The 23-year-old ended up paying for his rather weak defence in the bout against Escobar.
The event, in Astana, Kazakhstan, is the final qualifying tournament for women boxers in the 51kg, 60kg and 75kg Olympic categories and has 12 Rio tickets on offer. Which means pugilists will have to at least make the semi-finals in the three chosen divisions to book a berth.
India bagged as many as 21 medals at the Spanish Para Badminton International in Cartagena, Spain.
The BFI wanted to start the camp on June 10 originally but had been waiting to secure permissions from the state government and the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
India's challenge at the China Open boxing tournament came to a close when Indian women pugilists Monica Suan (60kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg) lost their respective semi-final bouts in the at the Guiyang Sports Gymnasium in Guiyang.
'I need this desperately to assess myself before the Olympics'
Indian athletes, including the boxers and shooters, hit the ground running as they started their pre-Olympic training, hoping to live up to massive expectations in the pandemic-hit Games in Tokyo.
M C Mary Kom and Pooja Rani knocked out their respective opponents while L Sarita Devi survived a scare as India grabbed all the three gold medals on offer in women's boxing for an overall clean-sweep of top honours in the 12th South Asian Games in Shillong on Tuesday.
Boxers reached Amman from Assisi on February 27 and were found all clear after undergoing the mandatory screening for symptoms. Jordan has so far recorded only one positive case.
On a comeback trail after serving her one-year ban, Asian Games bronze-medallist L Sarita Devi will be seen in competitive action from December 1 as part of a 13-strong Indian team of 10 men and 3 women for the training-cum-competition event in the Chinese city of Qian'an.
The pugilists were due to start training later this month or early in August after the Boxing Federation of India got the SAI nod to conduct the national camp amid the pandemic.
In a conference call with these boxers on Sunday, Boxing Federation of India (BFI) President Ajay Singh took stock of their preparations amid a national lockdown till April 14 to fight the pandemic.
All of the boxers have been training at their respective homes ever since the nationals camps came to a halt in mid-March owing to the virus outbreak
India have named a strong 10-member boxing team for the forthcoming South Asian Games to be held in Shillong from February 13 to 16.
Indian women boxers failed to secure a single Olympic quota berth at the AIBA World Championships after Pooja Rani (75kg) bowed out.
India's nine Olympic-bound boxers will travel abroad for a three-week training stint after getting a few days' break following a record-shattering medal haul by the country's pugilists at the recently-concluded Asian Championships in Dubai.
Sanjeet Kumar won a gold medal in the 91 kg weight category at the Asian Boxing Championships.
In a bout which had very few clear punches, Mary Kom prevailed 9-1 to make the squad
A resolute Vikas Krishan (69kg) and Simranjit Kaur (60kg) advanced to the finals with impressive victories but the legendary M C Mary Kom (51kg) and world number one Amit Panghal (52kg) settled for bronze medals at the Asian/Oceanian Olympic Qualifiers, in Amman, on Tuesday. Also ending with bronze medals were Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg). All the six boxers have already secured their tickets to the Olympic Games by making the semi-finals but Krishan and Kaur will come back with at least silver medals after entering the finals.
Five-time world champion Mary Kom, who got a direct entry into the 48kg category semi-finals due to the small size of the draw, defeated Ukraine's Hanna Okhota in the semi-finals to be assured of at least a silver.
Olympic medalist MC Mary Kom, L Sarita Devi and Aruna Mishra, among others, booked their place in the final round of the South Asian Games in Shillong on Thursday. Kom overcame a spirited Nikhit Zareen, while Sarita Devi passed the Meena Kumari test. Meanwhile, Mishra emerged winner in a bout which had to be decided on the basis of two rounds after power failure in the NEHU, SAI Special Area Games venue disrupted the game. Others who made the cut are Sarjubala Devi, Soniya and Pooja Rani. Earlier, the famed MC Mary Kom was forced to come out of her comfort zone by the versatile Nikhit Zareen, who started on an impressive note.
Five-time world champion Mary Kom and her colleague Sarita Devi continued to impress the crowd with agile movements for the second day in a row, outplaying their opponents in the South Asian Games qualifiers in Shillong on Wednesday. Sarita defeated a tough opponent P Basumatary in the quarterfinal round to proceed in the South Asian Games qualifiers and test event at the NEHU, SAI Special Area Games. Mary Kom on the other hand made mincemeat of Soniya in her bout to sail into the next round. Sarjubala Devi, Aruna Mishra and Pooja Rani also beat their opponents to move ahead.
Six-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) qualified for Tokyo Olympics by advancing to the semi-final with a comfortable win over Philippines' Irish Magno, at the Asia/Oceania Qualifiers in Amman, on Monday. World number one Amit Panghal (52kg) qualified for his maiden Olympic Games, while Manish Kaushik (63kg) remained in the hunt for a Tokyo ticket despite losing his quarter-final bout.
Thirteen of the country's boxers -- seven men and six women -- are assured of at least bronze medals after advancing to the last-four stage of the marquee continental championship.
The Indian boxers' campaign in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers was off to a disappointing start with all three in action, on Saturday, including former Commonwealth Games champion Manoj Kumar (64kg), bowing out with opening round losses in Qian'an, China.
Schedule of Indian athletes in the 20th Commonwealth Games on Monday (July 29).
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