Boxing’s HPD resigns after Oly qualifiers debacle

New Delhi, March 14

India’s dismal performance in the recent Olympics qualifiers for boxing has triggered a coaching crisis just four months before the Paris Games as high performance director Bernard Dunne has stepped down while foreign coach Dmitry Dmitruk is likely to be shown the exit door.

Dunne, a former Irish professional boxer who was appointed as the HPD in October 2022, sent his resignation from Italy, where he was with the Indian team for the first world Olympics qualifiers. After two qualification events — the Asian Games and the first qualifiers — not a single male pugilist has booked a place for the Olympics. All four quotas have come in the women’s competition.

The federation is now looking at Indian coaches to take charge of the teams.