World championships bronze medal winning boxer Mohammad Hussamuddin, who was out of action with a knee injury for about six months, made a comeback to the Indian squad for the Olympics World Qualification Tournament (WQT) to be held in Busto Arsizio, Italy, from February 29 to March 12.
Hussamuddin, who had injured his left knee during the World championships in Tashkent, had gone under the knife to fix his injury. His return would boost India’s chances of securing a quota place in 57kg.
The squad also included Worlds medallists Deepak Bhoria (51kg) and Nishant Dev (71kg), multiple Asian medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), National champion Lakshya Chahar (80kg), former Asian champion Sanjeet (92kg) and Asian Games medallist Narender Berwal (+92kg) in the men’s section.
Commonwealth Games medallist Jaismine Lamboria (60kg) and former World youth champion Arundhati Choudhary (66kg) were the boxers picked in the women’s section.
The boxers were selected after a comprehensive evaluation process, conducted by the high-performance coaching staff based on various parameters.
“Our aim is to maximise India’s participation at the Paris Olympic Games 2024 and to achieve that we have undertaken a thorough and careful selection process for the first WQT. The high-performance team conducted a detailed evaluation process and gave points to boxers. Those securing highest points were selected. We are confident that these boxers possess the mettle to secure the coveted spots at the Olympics,” said Boxing Federation of India secretary Hemanta Kalita.
India has already secured four quotas for Paris 2024 with Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) confirming their berths at the Asian Games. The boxers will travel to Montenegro in the second week of next month to participate in a multi-nation training camp.
Before that three of the four qualified boxers, excluding Parveen, will be part of the Indian squad that will compete in the Strandja memorial tournament, said chief coach C.A. Kuttappa.
In the first WQT, four quota places are available in each weight of the men’s section. Three quota places in 60kg and four in 66kg are available in women’s section.
The second WQT will be held in Bangkok from May 23 to June 3.
