An outraged Indian boxing contingent lodged a protest and demanded a review of L Sarita Devi's semi-final bout at the Asian Games after the veteran pugilist lost despite a dominating performance against home favourite Jina Park.
Five-time world champion MC Mary Kom of Manipur punched her way into the final of the flyweight division while Haryana's Pinki Jangra stunned former world champion L Sarita Devi at the 12th Senior Women's National Boxing Championship in Bhopal.
Jaismine Lamboria (57kg) and Minakshi Hooda (48kg) carved their place in Indian boxing history by clinching titles with hard-fought wins at the World Championships in Liverpool.
A tough road awaits veteran L Sarita Devi and rookie Manisha Moun as they open India's campaign at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships, in New Delhi, on Friday.
Sarita (60kg), who was banned for a year due to her emotional outburst at the Asian Games medal ceremony after losing a controversial semi-final bout, returned to the country from the Chinese city of Qian'an on Friday. The Manipuri fought three bouts and won two of them during the competition which featured rivals from hosts China, Korea, Mongolia and Thailand.
A remorseful L Sarita Devi appealed to the International Boxing Association to lift the provisional suspension imposed on her for refusing to accept the bronze medal at the Asian Games in Incheon, saying she deeply regrets her outburst on the podium and will never repeat it.
She understands the emotion behind L Sarita Devi's tearful protest on the Asian Games podium but M C Mary Kom, who became the first Indian woman boxer to win gold at the mega-event, said faced with a similar crisis, she would have shown dissent differently.
The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) elections have been put on hold after conflicting orders from the Delhi and Himachal Pradesh High Courts.
Legendary sprinter Milkha Singh criticised boxer Sarita Devi for refusing to accept the bronze medal during the Incheon Asian Games victory ceremony last year, saying it was not proper to protest that way.
Three Union ministers came out in support of boxer Sarita Devi as sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal sought a report from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on pugilist's controversial loss against Korean boxer in the semi-final of the Asian Games in Incheon.
Mary Kom stormed into the quarter-final after beating Kazakhstan's Aigerim Kassenayeva in the second round of the 48kg category of the AIBA Women's World Championships, in New Delhi, Sunday.
'She has not forgotten where she comes from.' 'It is unfortunate that we do not celebrate her boxing career, but she says she has learned to be happy.' 'All the rejections and corruption has given her courage.'
18-year-old Indian Sheetal Devi scripted history by becoming the first woman armless archer to win World championship gold in the compound individual section.
A memorandum to visiting Union Home Minister Amit A Shah, stated: 'Paramilitary forces might have been reluctant to prevent Kuki terrorists from attacking innocent civilians,' the news agency IANS reported.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography Playing It My Way saw its launch in the national capital today as the event celebrated the book's crossing a record 200,000 copies.
In its latest order, the Himachal Pradesh High Court directed the Sports Ministry observer and the Returning Officer to issue a fresh election schedule before April 28, when the case is set to be heard again.
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.
Controversy hit the Asian Games boxing competition after India's L Sarita Devi (60kg) had to settle for a bronze medal despite dominating her semifinal bout in Incheon on Tuesday.
Karnataka to face Services in men's doubles tennis final
Five-time chess world champion Anand and nine-time world champion Sethi will be mentoring the high-profile athletes signed up by Olympic Gold Quest, who are looking to improve India's showing from the last Games in London when they won six medals.
'It is totally their own choice. I can't comment on their choices.'
MC Mary Kom began her campaign in style by outpunching Sweden's Juliana Soderstrom in her opening bout of the AIBA World Women's Boxing Championships in Astana.
'The government is just laying foundation stones everywhere.' 'It has hardly inaugurated anything.'
India's Asian Games Chef-de-Mission Adille Sumariwala slammed the International Boxing Association on Monday for provisionally suspending him in Sarita Devi episode, saying that the boxing world body went beyond its "jurisdiction".
Indian women boxers made a resounding start at the third Indoor Asian Games with L Sarita Devi (54kg) and N Usha (57kg) advancing to the medal rounds of the event with thumping wins in their respective quarterfinal bouts in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Saturday.
Following is India's schedule on Thursday, Day 1 of the Paris Paralympics: (All timings in IST):
Former World Championship silver medallist L Sarita Devi, who lost to five-time world champion M C Mary Kom in the trials, was included in the Indian women's boxing team for the November Asian Games as a reserve.
The 25-year-old boxer from Telangana thrashed Thailand's Jitpong Jutamas without breaking a sweat in the 52kg final with the judges scoring the bout 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 in Nikhat's favour.
On a mixed day for India, Laxmi Padiya (81kg) advanced to the quarter-finals but former champion L Sarita Devi (51kg) crashed out with a shock second-round defeat in the sixth women's World Boxing Championships in Barbados.
Olympic bronze-medallist M C Mary Kom once again led the charge as she packed a powerful punch by assuring herself at least a silver medal in the fly weight category (48-51kgs) after beating Vietnam's Le Thi Bang at the 17th Asian Games, in Incheon on Tuesday.
A gold medal eluded the Indian boxers through the evening and the four pugilists in fray for the top prize, including Olympic bronze winner Vijender Singh, had to be content with a silver each at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, on Saturday.
Fernandez evaluated India's chances at the upcoming Summer Games.
Nikhat registered a dominating 5-0 victory, thrashing Thailand's Jitpong Jutamas without breaking a sweat in the 52kg final with judges scoring the bout 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 in the Indian's favour.
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.
Nikhat Zareen, Manisha Moun and Parveen Hooda, who brought honour to the country at the women's World Boxing Championships 2022, were felicitated by Sports Minister Anurag Thakur.
Ace Indian woman boxer M C Mary Kom (51kg) continued to make strides towards booking an Olympic berth by entering the World Championships' quarter-finals even as L Sarita Devi's fate hangs in balance after she lost a close last-16 bout in Qinhuangdao, China, on Tuesday.
India's most successful woman boxer M C Mary Kom is spewing fire even though it is celebration time for her after clinching her maiden gold medal since jumping a division, in the Asian Championships in Mongolia.
World Boxing Champion M C Mary Kom has expressed her desire to represent Jharkhand at the forthcoming 34th National Games to be held February from 12 to 26.
Marriage is not a hindrance to achieve success at any level of competition provided one has a supportive family, feel pugilists of international repute.
