The legendary M C Mary Kom won historic sixth gold medal in the 48kg final in the Women's World Boxing Championship in New Delhi on Saturday.
PTI introduces the team, who is aiming for medals when India's campaign at the Tokyo Games commences on July 24.
Vijender Singh will defend his WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title against Francis Cheka in New Delhi on December 17.
Sonia Lather (57kg) stood just one win away from ending India's six-year-old gold medal drought at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship as she advanced to final after outpunching Kazakhstan's Aizhan Khojabekova in the last-four stage in Astana, Kazakhstan on Thursday. The 24-year-old Sonia, who is a 2012 Asian Championships silver-medallist, defeated Khojabekova 3-0 to set up a clash with Italian Alessia Mesiano, who got the better of Bulgaria's Denitsa Eliseeva by a similar margin. The lone Indian left in the fray, Sonia was quick off the blocks against her rather sloppy rival. Combining right hooks with power-packed jabs, Sonia threw Khojabekova off balance on more than one occasion. Khojabekova was mostly clueless when it came to defending herself and her feeble attempts at attack were blocked or evaded effortlessly by the quick-thinking Haryana girl. In the end, it was hardly a surprise that judges ruled unanimously in Sonia's favour.
'Aggression is very important.' 'In the new scoring system the judges are more impressed if you land more punches and fight more aggressively.'
World Championships bronze medallist Simranjit Kaur (60kg) and GeeBee Boxing silver medallist Dinesh Dagar (69kg) confirmed their places in the final, while Ankush Dahiya (64kg) and Ananta Pralhad Chopade (52kg) made it to the semi-finals.
'...they were shocked to learn that just 352 Indian soldiers had made 3 brigadiers, 2 colonels, 170 officers, 290 JCOs and 8,000 troops surrender to the Indian Army.'
Sarita, Nikhat also enter semis
MC Mary Kom pulled no punches as the celebrated Indian boxer announced her intention to stretch her career by another "three-four" years and while the 2018 Asian and Commonwealth Games remain her "main focus", Tokyo Olympics, she said, is also not out of the radar yet. The London Olympics medallist and five-time world champion recently decided to go back to the light flyweight (48kg division) amid speculation that it is among the two categories that the International Boxing Association (AIBA) is pushing for inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 33-year, a mother of three, is back in the ring with renewed hopes.
Hit by a needle controversy but in high spirits nonetheless, the jumbo Indian contingent would be aiming to make it all good with strong medal-winning performances.
Mary Kom said she merely left it on the federation and did not pressurise it to rule in her favour.
Sportsmen across the board took to Twitter to pay their respects to the Indian soldiers.
Vijender Singh gives up amateur boxing to turn full-time professional, perhaps the words ring truer than ever.
'No victory is complete without your idol's blessings,' Nikhat tweeted.
'In terms of ticket sales, Hindi is at 50-60 per cent while the South markets are at 80-90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.' The patchy performance of Hindi, the largest segment of the business is the nub of what is bothering Indian cinema.
Professional boxing in India is all set to get a massive fillip as the national capital will host an AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) fight night on June 11 featuring former World Championship bronze-medallist Vikas Krishan, who would be assured of an extra shot at Olympic qualification through this.
It was a disappointing first session for Indian boxers in the World Championships quarter-finals, on Wednesday, as the seeded duo of Asian champion Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar (64kg) lost, and Satish Kumar (+91kg) was declared medically unfit.
Indian boxers continued to pack a mighty punch at the World Championships, as Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Manpreet Singh (91kg) entered the pre-quarter-finals with contrasting victories in their respective second round bouts, in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Friday.
Asian Games bronze medallist Pooja Rani (75kg) entered the pre-quarter-finals in the AIBA World Women's Boxing Championships with a hard-fought victory over Ukraine's Mariya Borutsa, in Astana, on Friday.
World Championships bronze-medallist Shiva Thapa (56kg), on Thursday, became the first Indian boxer to make the cut for this year's Olympics by entering the Asian Qualifying Tournament's final but the celebrated M C Mary Kom (51kg) failed to book her Rio Games ticket after losing in the last-four stage, in Qian'an, China.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
'Unless you are a superstar, you will never have the kind of reach in theatres that the OTT platform provides.'
Bitter about the administrative mess which he feels cost him a medal at the Rio Olympics, pugilist Manoj Kumar says Indian boxing is on death bed right now and desperately needs intervention from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I am sure that I would have won a medal if India was not suspended from the International Boxing Association (AIBA).] "Had the first round in that pre-quarterfinal bout gone in my favour, the result would have been different," Manoj told PTI in an interview.
The Indian juggernaut rolled on unabated as the star-studded boxing squad joined the shooters in what is turning out to be an outing of unprecedented dominance by the host country at the 12th South Asian Games, in Guwahati, on Saturday.
India's Suraj Panwar clinched a silver in men's 5000m race walk event in the ongoing Youth Olympic Games to open the country's medal account in athletics in Buenos Aires.
Celebs who change the rules of the fashion game.
Six-time world champion Mary Kom (51kg) lost to American Virginia Fuchs in a split decision after an exhausting contest that was also messy in equal measure.
Nitu (48kg) and Jasmine (60kg) were the others boxers who sealed spots for the quadrennial event, in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8.
Aseem Chhabra lists his favourite Indian films of 2021.
The Indian flag was hoisted by members of the Indian contingent at the Athletes Village of the Asian Games in both Jakarta and Palembang, to mark the country's 72nd Independence Day.
Star paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal and World champion boxer Nikhat Zareen have been named India's flagbearers for the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Monday.
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.
MC Mary Kom and the seasoned L Sarita Devi spearheaded India's gold rush at the second India Open boxing tournament, which concluded on Friday.
Distraught after losing her controversial semifinal bout, Indian boxer L Sarita Devi on Tuesday stunned officials and spectators by refusing to accept the bronze medal, which is now in the custody of organisers.
The participation of Indian athletes in Friday's Tokyo Olympic Games opening ceremony will be kept to a 'bare minimum' in view of the COVID-19 threat, while only six officials from the contingent will be allowed to take part in the event.
'There is more to life than sport and anything can happen in sport, so you need something to fall back on'
'Vijay was adamant. He wanted the first poster to be eyecatching. Vijay wants to make a splash with his Bollywood debut.'
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday.
The protesting wrestlers on Friday reached out to Indian Olympic Association (IOA), demanding formation of an inquiry committee to probe the allegations of sexual harassment they have levelled against WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
