NAGPUR: After claiming the world youth crown in April, city boxer Alfiya Khan Pathan has been rigorously working on a new set of skills. Considering she has only one year left before she is promoted to senior category, she wants to make an impact at the Asian championship scheduled next month.
Alfiya is the 2019 Asian junior champion and now aims to replicate similar performance in youth section. The Indian team is set to travel to Dubai for the ASBC Asian youth & junior boxing championships to be played from August 17-31.
"I started training with Ganesh Purohit sir within 10 days of winning the world title in April. I feel things will move really fast from here and I need to be ready with my preparation for senior category. Ganesh sir has introduced some advanced drills, which would be helpful in the longer run and also in Dubai, provided I clear the youth trials," said Alfiya, who is the most successful boxer from Maharashtra in youth and junior categories.
"Looking at her preparations, I hope Alfiya will win the gold in nationals to be played from July 18-23," said coach Ganesh Purohit. "She is doing air punching with weights, where we try to replace 250gm gloves with 1-2kg dumbbells to build strength and muscle endurance. Within a few months, she will play with seniors and consistent punch landing will become the key, I am working on it day in and day out," said Purohit.
The selection criteria of Boxing Federation of India (BFI) are clear. No matter if a boxer wins major international titles, the boxer has to appear for trials before every tournament. This time, BFI will be organizing a national junior and youth championship in Haryana later this month. The gold medalist in the Haryana event will get a direct entry into the Indian team for Asian championship.
Alfiya will be representing Maharashtra in the nationals. The Maharashtra Boxing Association (MBA) will hold trials from July 11 either at Akola Krida Prabhodini, SAI centre Aurangabad, or Balewadi stadium Pune. The meeting regarding the same was held on Friday.
"We all have Covid safety at the back of our minds. We would guide players and also take efforts to ensure protocol is followed," said Rakesh Tiwari, MBA secretary.
