India to fight for 57kg Boxing at Paris Olympics afresh after Parveen Hooda suspended

As the quota place is allotted to the athlete in boxing, India would field another boxer in 57kg in the second World boxing qualifier starting in Bangkok on May 24.

File photo: Parveen, a 2022 World championships bronze medallist, committed four whereabouts failures between mid-2022 and mid-2023.  | Photo Credit: PTI

India lost the women’s 57kg quota place as boxer Parveen Hooda, who qualified for the Games by securing a bronze medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games last October, was handed a 22-month backdated suspension from Friday for ‘whereabouts’ failure.

As the quota place is allotted to the athlete in boxing, India would field another boxer in 57kg in the second World boxing qualifier starting in Bangkok on May 24.

“India can only field a boxer who is already registered as reserve for the qualifiers before April 11, 2024, which means that only two boxers, named as reserved in 60kg and 66kg categories, are eligible to compete in Bangkok,” said a BFI statement.

In 60kg, Jaismine was the second boxer behind Ankushita Boro while Manju Bamboriya was the second choice behind Arundhati Choudhary in 66kg in the assessment done for selecting a boxer for the qualifier.

It is learnt that the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) is likely to field Jaismine Lamboria, a Commonwealth Games and Asian bronze medallist in 60kg, as it may be tough for Manju to cut weight drastically.

The BFI has written to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow a fresh entry in 57kg but the chances of getting a go-ahead is remote due to the proximity of the qualifier.

Parveen, a 2022 World championships bronze medallist, committed four whereabouts failures between mid-2022 and mid-2023. According to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code, any combination of three missed tests or filing failures in a 12-month period will result in an anti-doping rule violation with a minimum sanction of 12-months.

The boxer attended multiple calls and her counsel Vidushpat Singhania was in touch with WADA and International Testing Agency (ITA) since March. After the ITA made it clear that the sanction could not be waived, it came down to the degree of violation following which the suspension period was reduced from 24 months to 22.

The suspension, which has been backdated by eight months, will effectively last for 14 months from May 17.

While the BFI said Parveen’s whereabouts failure was “unintentional” due to her father’s illness, Singhania said the failure was due to “her lack of knowledge and technical understanding of the Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS) platform.”

Even though Parveen, whose name featured in the list of quota place winners published by the Paris Boxing Unit (which is responsible for conducting boxing during the Olympics) on April 11, did not participate in any international event after winning the quota place in October, the BFI remained tight-lipped through the period.