World Boxing Championships: Lovlina Borgohain will be in action on opening day

The Indian boxing contingent is gearing up to kickstart their 12th IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships campaign in Istanbul, Turkey. The boxing championships are slated to take place between May 8 and 20, 2022.

The Indian team will be spearheaded by Olympians Lovlina Borgohain and Pooja Rani Bohra.

Borgohain, who will be returning to action after her 2021 Tokyo Olympics bronze medal stint, will square off against former world champion Nien-Chin Chen on Monday.

The 24-year-old outpowered the Chinese Taipei boxer during their last encounter at the Tokyo Olympics quarterfinals to win bronze. Meanwhile, Pooja will take on Hungarian Timea Nagy in the pre-quarterfinals on May 13.

Indian boxers have undergone a 15-day training camp in Istanbul ahead of the boxing championships.

Speaking about the same, Chief coach Bhaskar Bhatt said:

“We focused only on technical aspects and understanding of the boxers from other countries. It was important to protect our boxers from getting injured before the main tournament. That’s why we refused when Italy proposed a full sparring session with us. We did not want to go all out at the training stage."

He further added:

“Lovlina is full of confidence. The Olympics medal has provided her a lot of motivation. She is fully fit for the big event. Pooja has recovered from her personal loss (the death of her father) and is ready. All boxers are fit and confident."

The Indians have clinched 36 medals, including nine gold, eight silver and 19 bronze, in the overall eleven editions of the tournament. India are placed third behind Russia (60) and China (50) with 36 medals.

In the last edition of the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships in 2019, the Indian squad bagged one silver and three bronze medals.

Indian Boxing schedule:

Indian Contingent for World Women’s Boxing Championships:

Here's the Indian squad for the World Women’s Boxing Championships:

Indian squad:

Nitu (48kg), Anamika (50kg), Nikhat Zareen (52kg), Shiksha (54kg), Manisha (57kg), Jaismine (60kg), Parveen (63kg), Ankushita (66kg), Lovlina Borgohain (70kg), Saweety (75kg), Pooja Rani (81kg), Nandini (+81kg).