India’s boxing hopefuls are currently part of the AIBA Asian and Oceanian Olympic qualifiers in Qianin, China, and each looking to book a berth for the country in the Rio Olympics, 2016.
Among those participating are Olympic medal-winner MC Mary Kom and Shiva Thapa, who is considered one of India’s biggest hopefuls for the quadrennial event. Thapa won bronze at the World Championships in 2015 and has been consistent since his debut; should he qualify, these will be the first Olympic games for the 23-year-old.
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The latest coming in is that MC Mary Kom has beat opponent Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan 2-1 to book a place in the final 8, taking her even closer to Olympic qualification.
Colleague Sarita Devi, in the women’s 60kg, has defeated her own opponent, Tomoko Kugimiya 3-0 and also progresses to the quarter-finals.
Their male counterparts were not as lucky. Vikas Krishan, in the 75kg middleweight category, went down to China's Zhao Minggang 1-2, while Satish Kumar, in the heavyweight category (+91kg), lost to Mu Haipeng of China 0-3.
Boxers have access to a set number of quota places at the Olympics; none of them have as yet qualified, and will hope to make an effort towards India's hopes in China.
In the earliest stages of the Asian and Oceanian Olympic qualifiers, there has not been significantly good news for India’s pugilists.
So far, 23-year-old Indian hopeful Sumit Sangwan, who competed at the London Olympics in 2012 as a heavyweight and will this year look to participate in the same category, lost in his first bout to South Korean boxer Heegeun Yang, going down 0-3.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Manoj Kumar, competing in the Men’s light welterweight category, was also unlucky, losing to his Kazakhstani opponent Zhussupov Ablaikhan, who won the Youth Olympic gold medal in 2014.
In contrast, World Military Games silver medallist Dheeraj Rangi fared well. The lightweight category boxer beat Thai rival Pachanya Longchin, who has seen successs in intra-Asian boxing championships.
Rangi beat the Muay Thai specialist-turned-boxer 3-0 and now finds himself in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
Among the women, Asian Games bronze medal winner Pooja Rani is the only female boxer to have put in an appearance so far. The women’s middle weight boxer was beaten 2-1 by young Tajikistani hopeful Shoira Zulkaynarova.
MC Mary Kom and Shiva Thapa are both top seeds at the tournament in their respective categories. Thapa, as men’s top seed in the bantamweight category, has a first round bye and will face the winner of the bout between Korea's Myeongkwan Lee and Tajikistan's Oraz Avzalshoev.
Devendro Singh, seeded fourth in the men’s flyweight category, also has a first-round bye, and will spar with Malaysia’s Muhammad Fuad Bin Redzuan on the 28th.
Men’s middlweight hopeful Vikas Krishan Yadav will also spar tonight, taking on China’s Zhao Minggang – both players have a first round bye in the tournament. The 2010 Asian games gold medalist will, along side Mary Kom, hope to cement a place in sporting history.
Sarita Devi will take on Japan’s Tomoko Kugimiya tonight, with both receiving first-round byes.
There are 36 Olympic quota spots up for grabs at the event, with 30 for the men and 6 for the women. It is not the final chance for Indians to qualify for the Olympics, however, with another event in June.
India’s pugilists have done exceptionally well, especially considering that India lacks a concrete central body for the sport or any federation; Boxing India was suspended in 2015 by international boxing association AIBA due to a lack of transparency in its functioning, which has led to India’s boxers participating under the flag of the AIBA ever since. The issue could create a problem for Indian boxers going into the Olympics, and does not reflect well on the country.
Boxing India have received warnings from the AIBA, and if they are unable to hold elections to restructure the organization in the stipulated time, will be banned from the sport entirely. This will create major roadblocks for India’s boxers, who would then necessarily have to apply to the International Olympic Committee for special permission to participate in the Olympics, which poses its own set of difficulties.
The Indian boxing organisation have said in statements that they are making efforts to ensure elections are held on time, but it is unsure whether or not they are on track towards this yet.
Given the extremely short timelines they have to work with, it looks to be an uphill task.
