New Delhi: Even though the country has only three quota places following the loss of Parveen Hooda's slot, Indian boxing coach C.A. Kuttappa believes the boxers can secure at least four to five more quota places in the final Paris Olympic qualifiers starting on May 25 in Bangkok, Thailand.
As of now, only Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) are confirmed currently to compete at the Paris Olympics and Kuttappa is confident that more can be won in the final qualifier, which will ensure a strong presence at the Paris Olympics, according to reports.
Nine Indian boxers will be vying for these quota places, having benefited from a preparatory camp held in the same venue since May 11. The camp, fully funded by the government's Target Olympic Podium Scheme and the Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd under a CSR partnership, provided a total of 10 boxers with valuable sparring sessions against strong international competition, including teams from the United States, Great Britain, and Ireland.
"The preparations have been going well in the training camp," Kuttappa was quoted as saying by SAI Media from Bangkok. "Every boxer got 2-3 sparring sessions and everyone did well. We are very positive. A total of 13 countries participated in the training camp. The sparring session with boxers from the US, GBR, Russia and so on gave our boxers a lot of confidence that they could be challenged on the big stage in Paris.
“Take Sanjeet and Ankushita Boro for example, they came out dominant in the sparring sessions against great boxers from the camp,” he was quoted as saying in media reports.
Looking towards the qualifiers, the Dronacharya award-winning coach remains optimistic. "From the Thailand qualifiers, we definitely hope to clinch 4-5 quota places and we are hoping for the best. This time we have a definite chance," he asserted.
The team taking part in the qualifiers includes Amit Panghal (51kg), Sachin Siwach (57kg), Abhinash Jamwal (63.5kg), Nishant Dev (71kg), Abhimanyu Loura (80kg), Sanjeet (92kg), Narender Berwal (+92kg) Ankushita Boro (60kg), Arundhati Choudhary (66kg).
