India has achieved an unprecedented 9-seat tally in boxing for the Tokyo Olympics, as the International Olympic Committee has decided to scrap the global qualifiers, citing the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The world qualifier, which was to be the last qualifying event for the Games after the continental events, was scheduled to take place in Paris in June.
“The 53 quota places (32 men and 21 women) that are planned to be allocated in the final World Olympic Qualifier will now be distributed equally across the four regions (Africa, America, Asia / Oceania and Europe) and all weight categories.” added. The Boxing Working Group of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stated.
So far Amit Panghal (52 kg), Manish Kaushik (63 kg), Vikas Krishan (69 kg), Ashish Kumar (75 kg), Satish Kumar (+91 kg), MC Mary Kom (51 kg), Simranjit Kaur ( 60kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg) have qualified for the Tokyo Games of India at last year’s Asian Qualifiers, after which the Covid-19 pandemic brought the world of sport to a halt. .
In the current ranking, those who have qualified are the only ones with good ranking positions, with Amit being the best ranked among them at the top of his weight class ranking.
The remaining categories in which Olympic places are still up for grabs in the Indian context are 57kg, 81kg and 91kg for men and 57kg for women. Neither category features Indians in the highest positions.
‘We are still hopeful’
However, the director of high performance of Indian boxing, Santiago Nieva, expects some more ratings.
“Obviously, there is a disappointment, but we are still hopeful. We will wait for what the IOC comes up with. I am very happy to have had a good Asian qualifier, it is a blow to the body for those who didn’t,” he said. told the Press Trust of India.
The IOC said the performances of the past four years will be taken into account when deciding the final ranking.
“This ensures a new reassignment route, which is based on international results in the field recorded over the last four years (2017-2021), including but not limited to BTF Olympic qualifying events,” the IOC said of the new classification procedure.
Mary Kom welcomed the IOC’s decision to cancel the final qualifying event even though it is a setback for those seeking vacant spots.
“While I regret that athletes do not have the opportunity to compete in a qualifier for the world final, I fully support BTF’s solution to reorganize the qualification route to Tokyo 2020 in the best interest of all athletes,” he said in a statement. issued by the IOC.
The IOC has taken over the conduct of boxing at the Tokyo Olympics after suspending the International Boxing Association, citing administrative mismanagement. So far only the African and Asian boxing qualifiers have been completed and the tournaments for Europe and America will take place later this year. The European tournament, which was previously postponed to April this year, has now been rescheduled for June.
She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.