After the uncertainty over the future of amateur boxing at the global level due to the suspension of the then-governing body International Boxing Association (IBA), normalcy seems to have been restored as the World Boxing Cup Finals kicks off tomorrow in Greater Noida on Sunday.
The event acts as the season-ending tournament of the new body, World Boxing, where the top-ranked boxers fight to gain some crucial ranking points. As per the format, medallists from the three World Boxing Cups held earlier this year, along with top-ranked pugilists, qualify for the finals.
“Ranking points have become crucial under the new body as it decides seeding for an event. Also, playing at a home event is always great, given the crowd support. I am expecting to perform in front of the home crowd,” said two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen ahead of the tournament. The Hyderabadi will compete in the women’s 51kg category and will directly play the semi-final against Uzbekistan’s Gulsevar Ganieva.
The other challengers
Apart from Nikhat, the spotlight will also be on 57kg world champion Jaismine, who will face Kazakhstan’s Ulzhan Sarsenbek in the semi-final. “It was a great season for me overall. I just want to end it on a high with the gold medal here and focus on the next season, which has a major event like the Asian Games,” said Jaismine, who won the World Championships gold in Liverpool earlier this year.
48kg world champion Minakshi Hooda will open India’s challenge on Sunday as she takes on Kazakhstan’s Bolat Akbota, followed by a tight bout between Preeti (54kg) and former youth world champion, Uzbekistan’s Nigina Uktamova.
While India is expected to dominate the women’s categories after fielding a strong team with four World Championship medalists, the men’s team will have a point to prove after a disappointing World Championship run.
But they find themselves in a tough draw as one of the medal contenders, Hitesh Gulia in the 70kg category, will be up against the top seed and former world champion Sewon Okazawa of Japan in the first round. Hitesh had a good season, clinching a gold and silver in the World Cups held in Brazil and Kazakhstan earlier this year, but faltered in the round of 32 at the Worlds.
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Low participation of boxers
The tournament format allows eight boxers in every category to compete, starting from the quarter-finals. However, the participation in the tournament has been low, especially in the women’s category.
From 80 available spots across ten weight categories, only 44 women’s boxers have turned with only three participating in the 75 and 80kg women’s categories. Men’s categories have better numbers with 65 boxers turning up and a full roster of eight boxers each in the 70 and 90kg categories.
“One of the main reasons behind the low participation is the end of the season. A lot of top boxers have decided to take a break and start the next year,” a source from World Boxing said.
However, there are some top names to look forward to with World Championships silver medallist, Sewonrets Okazawa (M70kg), of Japan, and gold medallist, Huang Hsiao-Wen, from Chinese Taipei, will be chasing further success in the women’s 54kg. They will be joined by Poland’s 80kg+ World champion Agata Kaczmarska, who will compete at 80kg, and Paris Olympics silver medallist Munarbek Seiitbek Uulu (M60kg) of Kyrgyzstan.
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Squad:
Women: Minakshi (48kg), Nikhat Zareen (51kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Jaismine Lamboria (57kg), Parveen Hooda (60kg), Neeraj Phogat (65kg), Arundhati Chaudhary (70kg), Saweety (75kg), Pooja Rani (80kg), Nupur Sheoran (+80kg)
Men: Jadumani Singh (50kg), Pawan Bartwal (55kg), Sachin Siwach (60kg), Abhinash Jamwal (65kg), Hitesh Gulia (70kg), Sumit Kundu (75kg), Ankush Phogat (80kg), Jugnoo (85kg), Naveen Kumar (90kg), Narender (+90kg).
