Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Vijender, who is promoted by IOS Boxing Promotions, is the reigning WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight champion and is expected to defend his title for a second time next month after the IPL.
India's boxer Monika handed a shock defeat to the two-time world championships medallist Josie Gabuco of Philippines to enter the women's 48kg semi-finals at the 2022 Thailand Open International Boxing tournament in Phuket on Monday.
The ISSF said there will no ranking points in the tournament scheduled to be held from March 15 to 26 as the organisers are not in a position to guarantee participation of all athletes owing to the extraordinary situation.
Panghal and Kaushik have entered the semi-finals at the Worlds, making it the first time when India have more than one boxer in fray for the medal rounds of the marquee event.
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).
Boxing India president Sandeep Jajodia and Secretary General Jay Kowli are set to be ousted through a No Confidence Motion.
Boxing India on Monday told the Delhi high court that it cannot appeal against the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) decision to suspend boxer Sarita Devi for refusing to accept the bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea.
A few Indian stars will have to go through the disappointment of watching all the action from afar.
Dingko Singh is battling liver cancer.
Seventy two years ago, a newly independent India ventured to hold the the first Asian Games in Delhi with meager resources.
Maidaan draws out more yawns than yays, observes Sukanya Verma.
Indian boxers have been given the go ahead to participate in the October World Championships by AIBA but the world body has decided to bar them from any competition after that if the IBF fails to conduct a re-election by November.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju advised the Boxing Federation of India to be transparent and resolve the Nikhat Zareen-Mary Kom in the best possible manner.
At the Asian Games, women pugilists will compete in five weight categories: 51kg, 57kg, 60kg, 69kg and 75kg. While the Olympics will have six weight classes -- 50kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, 66kg and 75kg.
The IBA Women's World Boxing Championships is scheduled to be held from May 6 to 21 in Istanbul, Turkey while the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2022 Asian Games will begin on July 28 and September 10 respectively.
Six-time World champion M C Mary Kom and Nikhat Zareen will clash in the 51kg category final of the women's boxing trials for next year's 2020 Tokyo Olympic Qualifiers after claiming unanimous victories in their respective first-round bouts, in New Delhi, on Friday. Former junior World champion Zareen defeated reigning national champion Jyoti Gulia, while multiple-time Asian champion Mary Kom got the better of Ritu Grewal.
The Sports Ministry on Tuesday refused to attach too much importance to Indian Amateur Boxing Federation's (IABF) request for government's intervention saying it is "not a recognised body".
The IBA has also welcomed the presence of an IOC monitoring group, which would "see first-hand IBA's best practices regarding technical and competitions rules, specifically its heralded bout review process," the federation said.
The change means that Panghal, an Asian Games gold-medallist in 49kg, will now have to move to 52kg, while Thapa and Kaushik will have to forego the 60kg division and move up to the newly-created 63kg. Thapa is a three-time Asian Championships medallist and a world bronze-medallist, while Kaushik won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games last year.
Sanjay Mishra to become new BAI general secretary
With the IOA's return to the Olympic fold, Indian fencers will be able to represent the country after Fencing Association of India's (FAI) suspension has been revoked by the sport's international federation.
'IOC has in the past sent letters to International Federations not to award major events to Spain after athletes from Kosovo were not allowed to participate under their own flag at the Karate World Championships. And you never know it might be India next'
In a first for women's boxing in India, former world champion and Asian Games bronze-medallist L Sarita Devi has decided to turn professional but will not give up on the amateur circuit either if the Boxing Federation of India allows her. The 31-year-old multiple-time Asian champion decided to take the plunge by signing up a two-year deal with the commercial partners of Indian Boxing Council (IBC) - a licensing body for professional boxers in the country -- Sporty Boxing Private Limited.
Four-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa became India's first gold-medallist at the President's Cup boxing tournament after getting a walkover in the final.
Close on the heels of International Boxing Association provisionally suspending the Indian Federation, the Sports Ministry also suspended recognition to the IABF, citing 'flawed and faulty' elections.
Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports led the tributes for the champion pugilist.
Six-time World champion M C Mary Kom on Tuesday explained the nuances of injury-management to fellow boxers in an online education programme of the Boxing Federation of India. Mary Kom was joined by the Indian teams' doctors and physiotherapists during the session that was watched by close to 300 participants, the BFI said in a press release.
Boxing great MC Mary Kom will lead a five-member Oversight Committee that will probe sexual harassment charges against Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Nikhat, Lovlina on course for CWG berth
Ms Usha may soon discover that winning four gold medals at the Asian Games and qualifying for the Los Angeles Olympics is a walk in the park compared with the challenges of stabilising governance at the IOA, observes Kanika Datta.
Nikhat Zareen on Tuesday demanded a fair Olympic selection trials and asked the national federation (BFI) to telecast live the fight after her much-anticipated showdown against MC Mary Kom in the Indian Boxing League was cancelled.
Four-time world champion M C Mary Kom's suspension, for "unsporting behaviour" after her quarterfinal loss in the ongoing Women's National Boxing Championship, was revoked on Wednesday.
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.
However, the Indian did not report for weigh-in on Friday morning.
'He was not the hit and run kind of a boxer, but a very intelligent boxer.' 'His presence of mind in the ring brought him glory in many international tournaments.'
Boxing India is confident of L Sarita Devi's return to the ring before too long after the International Boxing Federation (AIBA) suspended the 29-year-old for her petulant display at the recent Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea.
Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh and Akhil Kumar will spearhead India's challenge at the World Elite Men's Boxing Championships to be held in Milan in September as a nine-member team for the event was announced, on Saturday. The selection committee of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation picked the players for the 12-day event at a meeting on July 16 at National Institute of Sports in Patiala.
The 2020 international calendar concluded with the three tournaments in the Asia leg which was conducted in Bangkok in successive weeks.
Celebrated boxer M C Mary Kom will aim for a historic sixth gold at the AIBA Women' World Championships, the build up of which has been marred by a row over lone Kosovan boxer's participation and poor quality air in the national capital.
