Abhinav Bindra backed Nikhat Zareen's demand for a trial bout against the six-time World champion before India's squad for next year's Olympic Qualifiers is decided.
With an increased talent pool to choose from, the Indian Boxing Federation's selection panel is faced with a problem of plenty at the trials to pick the team for the World Championships next month.
Nikhat's form augurs well for India with the Olympics coming up next year.
A year after he took over as the Indian Boxing Federation's President, which was followed by its international suspension, Abhishek Matoria's election for the top post has been challenged by the very body he claimed to represent in the controversial polls.
As the search for a Cuban coach for Indian boxers continues, country's only Olympic medal winner in the sport Vijender Singh on Monday said a foreigner is not needed as home-grown coaches can do the job well enough. Ever since Cuban B I Fernandes' contract expired, the Indian Boxing Federation has been hunting for a foreign coach, preferably another Cuban, to fill the void.
World champion Nikhat Zareen is keen to use the experience gained in the recently-concluded global event to qualify for the 2024 Olympics.
The lack of an effective Indian boxing federation has damaged the competitiveness of the sport and contributed to the decline of boxing in the country, women's Olympic flyweight bronze medallist MC Mary Kom said on Tuesday.
The 49-year-old Italian has been with the Indian team since 2017. He was confined to the IG Stadium in the national capital for the past two months owing to the national lockdown to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The two boxers had failed gender tests at World Championships in New Delhi last year
Faced with the herculean task of reviving the sagging fortunes of Indian boxing, newly-elected Boxing India President Sandeep Jajodia said the sport had been left 'orphaned' in the last couple of years and he would bring it back on track with clean administration.
The Mission Olympic Cell is also considering higher incentives for retired Olympians and world-class players who want to take up coaching, in an effort to retain top talent within India.
Thanks to their decent showings in recent years, Boxing Federation of India (BFI) president Abhay Singh Chautala has pinned his hopes on the pugilists to bring laurels to the country in the upcoming London Olympics.
Indian boxing finally came out of an administrative exile after the International body AIBA gave provisional recognition to the newly-elected Boxing India, clearing the decks for the the country's pugilists' hassle-free participation in the upcoming Asian Games.
Sports Minister Vijay Goel, on Saturday, met former Olympic bronze-medallist Vijender Singh to discuss the way forward for Indian boxing, which has been severely hampered by administrative wrangling in the past four years.
The chairman of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) ad-hoc committee Kishan Narsi has reiterated in an e-mail communication that Boxing India stands provisionally suspended after the derecognised national body in a notification had scheduled its Annual General Meeting in Guwahati on October 3.
Entrusted with the task of undoing four years of damage, Boxing Federation of India (BFI) president Ajay Singh says the bickering that has ruined the sport is not very difficult to control and he is confident of bringing in a professional approach in the set-up with his corporate experience.
India has proposed to conduct all those disciplines that were axed from the 2026 Commonwealth Games to ensure that the country's medal tally is not affected when the event is held in Glasgow.
Incidentally, all three pugilists are currently embroiled in court case with the BFI over selection for the Asian Games.
The looming threat of an Olympic expulsion has ended for Indian boxers after the International Boxing Association (AIBA) agreed to extend the deadline for formation of the proposed new federation, which took another step forward by getting itself registered as a society.
The two boxers, who had signed up with the Indian Boxing Council (IBC), will be re-joining the national camp after submitting letters of apology to the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) for abruptly leaving the amateur circuit.
IMAGES from soccer matches played across Europe on Sunday.
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.
India gave a spirited fight but lost to Thailand 2-3 in a high-octane clash of the AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2025 Qualifiers in Chonburi on Sunday.
Flattens Faria in 2nd round to advance in Melbourne
Completing India's rehabilitation into the international boxing fold, AIBA unanimously gave permanent membership to the recently-elected Boxing India during its quadrennial congress in Jeju Islands, Korea.
'It is an extraordinary situation no doubt but we are all hoping for this to be brought under control by June', says BFI confident of COVID-19 storm passing.
A day after the Ministry of Home Affairs allowed sports complexes and stadia to open without spectators, National Sports Federations were deliberating ways to facilitate training of at least the Olympic-bound athletes. The lockdown has been extended till May 31.
World Championships silver medallist Amit Panghal qualified for the Paris Olympic after defeating China's Chuang Liu in the 51kg quarter-finals of the second World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok on Sunday.
All sectoral indices ended lower. BSE Telecommunication tanked 2.18 per cent, metal (1.77 per cent), auto (1.70 per cent), energy (1.64 per cent), oil & gas (1.59 per cent), commodities (1.39 per cent) and financial services (1.37 per cent) were the major laggards.
The Indian boxing team, which landed in Birmingham on Monday, wasted no time as they immediately started their practice for the mega-event.
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.
Indian boxer Vikas Krishan, who forfeited his semi-final bout in the Asian Championships, won't be allowed to compete in the World Series of Boxing and will have to explain his no-show to a disciplinary committee of the national federation.
Expected to end four years of administrative turmoil in Indian boxing, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) was elected to office with businessman Ajay Singh winning the Presidential poll by an overwhelming margin.
Ghanaian boxer Shakul Samed has been suspended from the Commonwealth Games after testing positive for a banned substance at the competition in Birmingham, officials said on Friday.
He said the team management has informed the Pakistan High Commission in the UK and the relevant authorities in London about the disappearance of Suleman and Nazeerullah.
Sarjubala, competing in the flyweight 51kg category, defeated Tajikistan's Madina Ghaforova 5-0 in a bout which was more gruelling than what the score-line suggests.
The IOC last year stripped the IBA of its status as boxing's governing body over governance issues, and took charge of the Paris 2024 boxing competition itself, but now finds itself at the centre of a row.
With Simranjit (60kg), Sakshi (54kg), and Jaismine (57kg) progressing into the last-4 stage, the women's team has confirmed India a medal in each weight category.
Alexander Zverev won the first set 7-6, but Novak Djokovic has been forced to withdraw from the match due to injury from the Australian Open semi-final on Friday.
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
