Nikhat, Lovlina to feature at Asiad

New Delhi, March 25

It is official. The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has done away with the system of holding trials before major events, such as the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games.

The newly appointed high performance director Bernard Dunne also informed that Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain will be the country’s direct entry for the event in September.

Dunne, who took over from Santiago Nieva last October, said the new selection criteria apply to both the men’s and women’s teams.

Instead of the trials, a team of coaches will evaluate and assess the boxers at the national camps. The assessment will happen ahead of major international events. This is the principle that was followed to select the women’s team for the ongoing World Championships.

“No plans for any selection trials in my opinion. The trials were an old system that was in place but not anymore. In the assessment process we have brought in, you have coaches working with the athletes to prepare them for an important tournament,” Dunne said.

“It is being done over a prolonged period of time. Tell me, if an athlete falls sick ahead of the trials, what would you do? The evaluation test that we have introduced is not about one day or a week,” he added. “The test allows us to know our best athletes. The boxers know that they are now being assessed, challenged, evaluated and judged. It also normalises the pressure, the anxiety level of an athlete before the competition.”

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has already announced that the boxers winning gold or silver at the World Championships will represent India at the Asiad. It means that Nikhat and Lovlina, who are the only two Indian boxers in the Olympics weight divisions of 50kg and 75kg, will feature at the Asiad.

Nitu Ghanghas (48kg), who won gold by beating Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg today, and Saweety Boora (81kg) are competing in non-Olympics weight categories.