A 10-member Indian boxing team is all set to take part in the World Boxing Championships which will be held in the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan from Oct 14 to Oct 26. A total of 576 boxers from 116 countries will be participating in the 17th edition of these Championships.
As Indian Boxing Federation is suspended by International Boxing Association’s (AIBA), Indian pugilists will compete as independent boxers under the banner of AIBA which directly means that if any Indian boxer wins the Gold medal at the Championships, then neither the tri-colour will be raised nor the national anthem will be played.
On the opening day of the Championships one Indian boxer will be in action. In the 52kg wt. category former national champion Madan Lal will lock horns with Alexandros Riscan of Moldova. Madan Lal, who won the Gold medal at the the International Boxing Cup in May 2013 was selected over the Commonwealth games Gold medallist Suranjoy Singh Mayengbam who lost his bout in the trials.
Tomorrow in 60kg division, India’s Vikash Malik will be up against Meder Mamakeev of Kyrgyzstan. Vikash was also selected over the Olympian and experienced Jai Bhagwan in this weight category as Jai Bhagwan missed the selection trials which took place in August.
Five Indian boxers namely Thokcham Nanao Singh (49kg), Asian Champion Shiva Thapa (56kg), Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar (64kg), Olympian Sumit Sangwan (81kg) and Asian Games silver-medallist Manpreet Singh (91kg) have got the bye in the opening round.
Until now, only two Indian boxers have won the medal in these Championships. Vijender Singh won the bronze medal in 2009 edition whereas Vikas Krishan won the bronze medal in the last edition of these games.
The bouts will be held in line with the new rules set down by the International Boxing Association. In particular the new regulations stipulate that the fighters will be in the boxing ring without any head-guards. Another new feature will be the new 10-point must scoring system.