World Olympic qualifier India squad: Amit Panghal makes comeback amidst drastic changes

The biggest surprise was the absence of seasoned boxer Shiva Thapa. Sachin Siwach Jr., another Strandja gold medallist, replaced Mohammad Hussamuddin, in 57kg.

Amit Panghal, who won a gold medal in the Strandja Memorial event in Sofia in February last, was the biggest name to make a comeback. | Photo Credit: Swapan Mahapatra

Following the Indian boxers’ disappointing performance in the Olympic qualifying event in Busto Arsizio, Italy, where they could not win a single quota place, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has changed six boxers in the squad for the second World Olympic qualifier in Bangkok, the last qualifying event, from May 25 to June 2.

After BFI’s assessment, done by coaches Dmitry Dmitruk, C.A. Kuttappa and Dharmendra Yadav, former World championships silver medallist Amit Panghal, who won a gold medal in the Strandja Memorial event in Sofia in February last, was the biggest name to make a comeback. He replaced World championships bronze medallist Deepak Bhoria in 51kg.

Former World junior champion Sachin Siwach Jr., another Strandja gold medallist, replaced another Worlds bronze medallist, Mohammad Hussamuddin, in 57kg.

The biggest surprise was the absence of seasoned boxer Shiva Thapa, who placed third in 63.5kg. Abinash Jamwal emerged as the top boxer in this category, followed by Vanshaj, who managed to recover from tuberculosis.

Young boxer Abhimanyu Loura, a former National champion, took the number one slot in 80kg.

Worlds bronze medallist Nishant Dev (71kg), who lost in the quarterfinals and narrowly missed an Olympic quota place in Italy, Sanjeet (92kg) and Narender Berwal (+92kg) retained their top spots.

Among women, Ankushita Boro, who represented the country in 66kg in Italy, came down to 60kg and claimed the number one position ahead of Jaismine Lamboria. Arundhati Choudhary was the best in 66kg.

Reportedly, stress was given to boxers’ ability to win matches in international events.

The boxers will travel to Bangkok on May 10 to train there before the competition.

So far, four women boxers – Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) – have won quota places in the Paris Olympics.

The squad

Men: Amit Panghal (51kg), Sachin Siwach Jr. (57kg), Abhinash Jamwal (63.5kg), Nishant Dev (71kg), Abhimanyu Loura (80kg), Sanjeet (92kg), Narender Berwal (+92kg);

Women: Ankushita Boro (60kg), Arundhati Choudhary (66kg).