Lovlina Borgohain, Nikhat Zareen return to Indian squad for World Championships
Star boxers Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain were on Thursday named in India’s squad for the World Championships set to take place in Liverpool in September.
The 20-member squad was finalised after the boxers went through a week-long assessment at the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala.
The tournament, to be held from September 4 to 14, will be the first World Championships held under the aegis of the new governing body of the sport, World Boxing.
It will feature competitions in 10 weight classes for men and women. It will also be for the first time ever that male and female boxers will compete in an Olympics-style boxing at the same event for the title of World Boxing Champion.
Both Zareen and Borgohain had missed the women’s nationals in March.
While the two-time world champion Zareen was injured at the time, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Borgohain had missed the event as the Assam state unit refused to send her due to infighting in the federation.
The duo had competed at the Elite Women’s Boxing Tournament in Hyderabad earlier this month to return to the national camp, but they had also missed the recent World Cup in Astana.
The men’s squad includes Asian Games bronze medallist Narender Berwal (90+ kg), two-time World Cup winners Hitesh Gulia (70kg) and Abhinash Jamwal (65kg) among others.
India squads
Women’s: Meenakshi Hooda (48kg), Nikhat Zareen (51kg), Sakshi (54kg), Jaismine Lamboria (57kg), Sanju Khatri (60kg), Neeraj Phogat (60kg), Sanamacha Chanu (70kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), Pooja Rani (80kg), Nupur Sheoran (80+ kg).
Men’s: Jadumani Singh Mandengbam (50kg), Pawan Bartwal (55kg), Sachin Siwach jr (60kg), Abhinash Jamwal (65kg), Hitesh Gulia (70kg), Sumit Kundu (75kg), Lakshya Chahar (80kg), Jugnoo Ahlawat (85kg), Harsh Chaudhary (90kg), Narender Berwal (90+ kg).