Indian Squad Announced for Final Olympic Qualifiers in Bangkok

World Championships silver medallist Amit Panghal has made a comeback to the Indian squad for the final Olympic qualifiers, set to take place in Bangkok from May 25 to June 2. The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has made significant changes to the squad, with a total of six new additions.

Following a disappointing performance at the previous Olympic qualifying event, where no Indian boxer managed to secure a quota place, High Performance Director Bernard Dunne resigned from his position. In the latest assessment conducted by foreign coaches Dmitry Dmitruk, C.A. Kuttappa, and Dharmendra Yadav, several notable boxers have missed the cut, including Deepak Bhoria, Mohammad Hussamudin, Shiva Thapa, and Lakshya Chahar.

Panghal, who has had a successful run with gold medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2024 Strandja Memorial, has earned his spot back in the squad after narrowly missing out on previous selections. In the women’s category, Ankushita Boro has moved to the 60kg weight class, displacing CWG bronze medallist Jaismine Lamboria.

India has secured four Olympic quota places for the 2024 Olympics so far, with Nikhat Zareen, Preeti Pawar, Parveen Hooda, and Lovlina Borgohain booking their spots at the Asian Games last year. With the new additions to the squad, Indian boxing fans are hopeful for a strong showing at the upcoming qualifiers.

The squad for the final Olympic qualifiers includes Amit Panghal (51kg), Sachin Siwach Jr. (57kg), Abhinash Jamwal (63.5kg), Nishant Dev (71kg), Abhimanyu Loura (80kg), Sanjeet (92kg), Narender Berwal (+92kg) for the men’s team, and Ankushita Boro (60kg), Arundhati Choudhary (66kg) for the women’s team.