For most part, Indian boxing had lots to celebrate and it started with the season-opening Strandja Memorial, one of Europe's oldest and most competitive tournaments.
India, on the other hand, finished runners-up twice in 2010 and 2014 editions.
'No matter when the Olympics are -- they can be after four months or after one year and four months -- I will be ready.'
Sharath is the lone Khel Ratna award recipient, 25 sportspersons, including shuttlers Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, woman boxer Nikhat Zareen, track and field athletes Eldhose Paul and Avinash Sable, were conferred with the Arjuna Award.
Mary Kom (51kg) will open her campaign against Dominica's Miguelina Hernandez on July 25; Panghal gets bye into pre-quarters.
In the lightweight (57-60kg) division, Jasmine will feature straight in the quarter-finals after getting a first round bye.
The Indian boxing team, which landed in Birmingham on Monday, wasted no time as they immediately started their practice for the mega-event.
India have fielded a strong contingent led by two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen and Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain.
In the evening session, Sumit faced Russia's Pavel Sosulin in his first bout and made a bright start. He used his powerful punches to good effect and took the first round by 3-2 before winning the second round by the same scoreline.
India's champion athletes returned to a rousing reception when they landed home on Tuesday after their spectacular showing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Ace Indian boxer Shiva Thapa began his Commonwealth Games campaign on a rousing note by defeating Pakistan's Suleman Baloch in the first round of the 63.5kg category, in Birmingham, on Friday.
Aiming to secure berths in the world championship squad, close to 400 boxers, including the likes of five-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa and former world bronze-winner Gaurav Bidhuri, will be competing in the National Men's Championships starting in Bellary on Wednesday.
L Sarita Devi (60kg) and Manoj Kumar (59kg) advanced to the quarterfinals along with Commonwealth Games debutant Mohammed Hussamuddin (56kg), in Gold Coast, on Saturday.
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.
Mary Kom fought back in the final three minutes but that was not enough to get the judges' nod.
Chasing a third successive Asian Games medal, Indian boxer Vikas Krishan (75kg) made a strong start, out-punching Pakistan's Tanveer Ahmed in his pre-quarterfinal bout in Jakarta, on Monday.
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 former world champion, Sindhu is one of the favourites to win the women's singles gold medal in Birmingham, having won the silver and bronze in the last two editions at Gold Coast and Glasgow.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
They showed big hearts. They were unfazed by the stature of their rivals and that's what is very important. You respect your rival but don't get intimidated by his CV, says India's High-Performance Director Santiago Nieva.
Nieva said boxers in all the five Olympic categories for women will be picked after selection bouts over two days.
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
It's a dip that India can probably relate to given that the country went from two gold, three silver and four bronze in Guangzhou 2010 to a mere two bronze at Incheon 2014.
Here's your complete guide to when India's athletes compete at the Paris Olympics, with dates, events, and timings in IST.
World championship trials would be held from March 7 to 9, followed by the Asiad trials from March 10 to 13.
Will India finally reach the elusive double-digit mark? Raj Kishore Mishra, former joint secretary at the sports ministry, for one, is willing to stick his neck out on the possibility.
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).
A livid Mary Kom asked her vanquished opponent Nikhat Zareen to prove herself in the ring instead of making irritating comments.
Debutant Akash Kumar (54kg) secured India's first medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Belgrade on Tuesday after advancing to the semi-finals with a superb win over former Olympic silver-medallist Yoel Finol Rivas of Venezuela.
Asian silver medallist Kavinder Singh Bisht (57kg) and Sanjeet (91kg) advanced to the pre-quarter-finals with hard-fought wins in the World men's Boxing Championships.
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.
Mary Kom will have to fight in the higher 51kg class if she wants to compete in next year's Tokyo Games.
Indian boxer Vikas Krishan Yadav is setting his eyes on a gold medal in the third Olympics of his life in Tokyo
Now, boxer Gaurav Bidhuri cries foul at exclusion from Olympic qualifiers' trial.
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.
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.
Mary Kom, who is an Asian Games winner and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, will start the tournament as favourite in the women's category.
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
A golden dream unfulfilled for over 30 years remained just that in women's hockey but India equalled its best ever medal haul as sailors joined the assorted contributors to the country's tally at the 18th Asian Games, on Friday.
Slipping out of the usual top-five was seen as a real possibility in absence of shooting but phenomenal success in athletics and lawn bowls propelled India to a commendable fourth place finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
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