Indian boxing stars set for weight alternate as AIBA rejigs Oly ..
NEW DELHI: Some Indian boxing’s most carried out names together with Amit Panchal, Shiva Thapa, and Manish Kaushik can move to better weight classes to preserve their Olympic dream as the game’s world body has scrapped their cutting-edge divisions from the 2020 Tokyo Games. The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has finalized the eight men’s and five girls’ divisions for the 2020 program. The new weight categories finalised for men are 52kg, 57kg, 63kg, 69kg, 75kg, 81kg, 91kg and +91kg, while for ladies, the divisions would be 51kg, 57kg, 64kg, 69kg and 75kg. The AIBA has additionally decided to introduce about review gadget from September this yr through which groups would be allowed to mission selections of a maximum of two bouts in a tournament.
The change means that Panghal, an Asian Games gold-medallist in 49kg, will now have to flow to 52kg, while Thapa and Kaushik will forego the 60kg department and circulate up to the newly-created 63kg. Thapa is a three-time Asian Championships medallist and an international bronze-medallist, while Kaushik won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games final yr. “We had been prepared for this; we knew that weight classes would be rejigged, and the boxers can be making the transition after the Asian Championships following month. There is no other way; they must move up if they need a shot at an Olympic medal,” Indian Boxing’s High-Performance Director Santiago Nieva informed PTI. Panghal has already moved up after gold at the Strandja Memorial remaining month.
Thapa is presently in Helsinki, Finland, to compete inside the 38th Gee Bee International Boxing Tournament, at the same time as Kaushik is in Germany for a schooling and publicity trip. The rejigging was necessitated via the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) diktat to enlarge ladies’ boxing in Tokyo from the preceding three weight categories — 51kg, 60kg, and 75kg — to 5. The in advance Olympic guys’ categories had been 49kg, 52kg, 56kg, 60kg, 64kg, 69kg, 75kg, 81kg, 91kg, and +91kg, adding up to ten in all. Speaking about the transition for guys, Nieva conceded, “It might not be easy” but insisted that the Indian camp has sufficient time to adapt and be geared up for the brand new divisions as a way to be in a location for the World Championships in Russia, additionally the first Olympic qualifying occasion.
“The boxers will adapt quickly; however, it’s now not that it’s a task for just us. Every team will alter we aren’t unique. And I am positive we will do it,” he said. National men’s instruct CA Kuttappa agreed with Nieva’s assessment and said boxers might be counseled earlier than the big exchange. “It is a period which could be very fluid. We will discern what they (the boxers) need, what is best for them, and then take a name. It may not be easy for any of them due to the fact leaping weights always takes a toll,” he said.
A slightly larger fear is boxing’s future as an Olympic sport. With the AIBA defying the IOC’s call to put off Gafur Rakhimov as president due to allegations of economic crimes towards him, there’s no readability on the game’s qualifying program for the 2020 Games. “All we realize is that world championships could be the first qualifying occasion; past that, there is no readability. It’s a touchy time, and we are all hoping for the best,” stated Nieva.
