World championship silver medallist Amit Panghal (52kg) has been given the top billing while M.C. Mary Kom (51kg) has been seeded second in the women’s event of the Asian Olympic qualifiers for boxing starting here on Tuesday.
Eight men and five women from India will be aiming to secure Tokyo Olympics berths at the continental event being conducted by the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Boxing Task Force.
While Panghal is the lone Indian man to be seeded, two-time World bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg) have been seeded second and fourth in the women’s competition.
The Indian team arrived in Jordan last Friday after a training stint in Assisi (Italy). “Everything is fine here. The team is in high spirits and we are looking forward to a strong performance,” said Indian boxing’s High Performance Director Santiago Nieva.
“We have worked on some areas to ensure that our opponents do not stand a chance,” he asserted.
The tournament has 63 quota places on offer and a boxer will be assured for a Tokyo ticket if he reaches the semifinal stage.
Among the men, Commonwealth Games silver-medallist Manish Kaushik (63kg) is a strong contender to book a Tokyo spot along with Panghal and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Vikas Krishan (69kg).
The Indian squad:
Men: Amit Panghal (52kg), Gaurav Solanki (57kg), Manish Kaushik (63 kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg), Ashish Kumar (75kg), Sachin Kumar (81kg), Naman Tanwar (91kg), Satish Kumar (+91kg).
Women: M.C. Mary Kom (51kg), Sakshi Chaudhary (57kg), Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Pooja Rani (75kg).
