Hisar, Oct 20 (PTI) Olympians Simranjit Kaur (60kg) and Pooja Rani (81kg) headline a strong field for the National Women’s Boxing Championship, which will double up as a selection trial for the world championships, starting here on Thursday.
The tournament, which is being conducted in association with Haryana Boxing Sangh, will see participation of more than 320 boxers from 36 States/UTs/Boards from across the country.
Apart from Simranjit (60kg) and Pooja (81kg), who is the reigning Asian champion, 2019 World Championships bronze-medallist Jamuna Boro (54kg), defending champion Pwilao Basumatary (60kg) and Asian Championships bronze medallist Jaismine (60kg) will be seen presenting strong challenges.
The federation has announced that gold winners from the event will be selected for the world championships, except for Olympic bronze-medallist Lovlina Borgohain, who has been given direct place in the squad based on her Tokyo performance.
Veteran M C Mary Kom has decided not to compete.
Reigning youth world champions — Manipur’s Babyrojisana Naorem (54kg), Sanamacha Thokchom (75kg) and Rajasthan’s Arundhati Choudhary (70kg) — will also be seen in action in the tournament, which will be played till October 27.
The opening ceremony will take place on Thursday which will be attended by Deputy Commissioner, Hisar Dr Priyanka Soni as chief guest alongside BFI General Secretary Hemanta Kumar Kalita and Treasurer Digvijay Singh.
The championships will be played as per the AIBA’s 12 weight divisions — 48kg, 50kg, 52kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, 63kg, 66kg, 70kg, 75kg, 81kg and +81kg.
The gold and silver medallists of the championships will also earn themselves places in the national coaching camp.
The remaining two names for the camp in each category will be selected on the basis of performances in selection trials, which will take place right after the nationals.
In the last edition of the championships held in Kannur, Kerala in 2019, Railways had clinched the team championship title with six gold medals while Haryana finished the runners-up.