Indian boxing team settled in games village and preparing for the cwg 2010 to start
This Press Release is being sent to all of you so that the controversy regarding Mary Kom (Manipur) being selected to represent India in 51 kgs in the forthcoming Asian Games at Guangzhou vis-à-vis Sarita Devi (Manipur) can be set at rest. Mary Kom is the reigning World Champion in the 48 kgs category and won her record fifth title at the Women World Championships at Barbados ten days ago ie. on the 18th September 2010. Sarita Devi who has been a former World Champion in 52 kgs in 2006 when the World Championship was held in India at Delhi had earlier won a Bronze Medal in 54 kgs in 2005 and again a Bronze Medal in 2008 at Ningbo, China. In this year’s World Championship at Barbados she lost her second bout against Sumeyra of Turkey (a small and short boxer) and hence did not get any medal. Sumeyra also lost her next bout and she also did not get any medal. The selection trials for Asian Games was held at Bhopal on 22 August 2010. After the Trials the Selection Committee sent the names of 3 selected boxers to Indian Boxing Federation alongwith the CDs of the Trials. Since this is the first time that Women’s Boxing is being included in the Asian Games, the bouts of all boxers on the CDs were reviewed by IABF with the help of qualified International Referees & Judges including the undersigned who was a Referee & Judge at Athens Olympic Games 2004 as well as many World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games earlier and is presently the Chairman of Asian Boxing Confederation Referees & Judges Commission as well as a Member of the International Boxing association (AIBA) Referee & Judge Commission. The verdict of all the Referees & Judges who viewed the CDs in India were that the results of the Trials at Bhopal as stated by the Selection Committee were inconclusive and that Mary Kom’s scoring was better and hence she should have been declared the Winner at Bhopal. The same was true for the other two wt cats. Hence, IABF took the decision of holding a re-trials on 22 September and the same was communicated by the undersigned to all the boxers at the World Championships at Barbados after most of them except Mary Kom had lost their bouts. This was to ensure that this information should have no bearing on their performance at the World Championships. It may also kindly be noted that the results of Selection of Men’s Team was communicated to the Ministry by IABF in August immediately after selection and also informed IOA and SAI that Women’s Team will be finalized after another Trials on 22 Sep.
Accordingly the second Trials were held on 22 September 2010 at Talkatora Stadium. Except Mary Kom who had to fight her last bout ie. finals on 18 Sep, the others had sufficient time for preparation and they were all practicing at Barbados itself. During the Trials on 22 Sep, IABF had stated that Media and friends of the Boxers can witness the Trials. However, the CWG Security intimated that Press will not be permitted with Cameras etc. Yet a large number of Press witnessed the Trials. The coaches, friends & relatives of the Boxers were also present to witness the Trials. There were atleast 150 spectators who saw the full Trials on 22 September. There was a 3 Tier system for selection, ie. AIBA approved Computerised Scoring system which was operated by qualified Referees & Judges, Scoring done by the Jury Members and Video Recording of all the bouts. The Selection Committee & Jury Members who were present on 22 Sep were : Mr OP Bharadwaj, Dronacharya Awardee, Mr Md Ali Qamar, Arjuna Awardee & Commonwealth Games 2002 Gold medalist, Mr Mehtab Singh, Arjuna Awardee, Mr Anup Kumar, Dronacharya Awardee & National Coach and the undersigned who is the Secretary General of IABF and an International (AIBA) Referee & Judge. In 51 kgs there were 3 contestants ie. Meena Kumari (National Champion) in this Wt Cat as both Mary Kom and Sarita Devi had lost their bouts in the Nationals in their wt cats in addition to Mary Kom and Sarita Devi. Mary Kom played against Meena Kumari and beat her comprehensively as recorded in the Judges scores and that of Jury. Sarita also beat Meena Kumari but by a narrow margin. Then in the bout of 2 rounds between Mary Kom and Sarita, Mary Kom beat Sarita. After the initial bout of 2 rounds each between the three boxers, the Jury decided that Mary Kom and Sarita are the best two in this wt cat and hence they were made to fight another 3 rounds against each other. The judges decision was unanimously in favour of Mary Kom by a large margin as the score difference was 7 pts. The Jury Members were also unanimously in favour of Mary Kom in their individual scores and the CDs are also available wherein Mary Kom is seen as a clear winner in the complete Selection Trials. In International Boxing, AIBA has brought in many changes wherein passive boxing or running around without scoring is being penalized. In the World Championships at Barbados, Mary Kom was the only successful Indian Boxer as she has an attacking style of play combined with good tactical skills, footwork and crisp hard punches. In view of the explanations in the abovementioned paragraphs, the Selection Committee of IABF selected Mary Kom to represent India in the 51 kgs at Asian Games Guangzhou in Nov 2010. The Federation nor the undersigned has nay personal interest in any particular individual. Indian Boxing Federation has always strived to keep its selections as open and transparent as possible and has always invited the Press & Media to come and witness. Accusations by Sarita Devi that the undersigned is showing favouritism is not justified. The personnel who watched the Trials at Talkatora Stadium on 22 Sep which included journalists and media people are testimony to the fact that the best have been selected to represent India at the forthcoming Asian Games. Should anyone be interested, the copies of the CDs can be provided and they can satisfy themselves with the results of the Trials.
Indian Boxing federation has great respect for its boxers especially Sarita Devi who is an Arjuna Awardee and has brought laurels to the Country on many occasions from 2001 onwards. However, when it comes to selection of boxers to represent the Country, we believe that the best boxer in each wt cat who has been selected in a fair, transparent and impartial manner should only get the opportunity. We should not succumb to blackmail and pressures being brought by various interested parties. At the end of the day, ‘Sport must Win’ and not individual preferences.
Historic Fifth World Championships title for Marykom at the 6th AIBA World Women's Boxing Championships at Barbadose
‘Magnificent Mary’ as she is popularly known in AIBA Boxing Circles lived up to her reputation by winning the World Women’s Boxing Championship Title in the 48 kgs for a record fifth time by defeating Duta Steluta of Romania on points 16:6. This was the third time that MC Marykom, mother of two children and hailing from Manipur, has fought against Duta Steluta of Romania and Mary has come out victorious on all three occasions. Incidentally Marykom is the only woman boxer in the World to have won medals in all the Six World Women’s Boxing Championships so far. In the inaugural World Championship in 2001, Marykom had to be contented with a Silver Medal in the 48 kgs cat. However in the next four World Championships she played and won Gold Medals in the 46 kgs wt cat. This year the 46 kgs cat was dropped in Women’s Boxing by AIBA and the lowest wt cat was made as 48 kgs and Marykom has again stamped her authority in this wt class.
The Indian Women’s Boxing Team will return to India on 21 September 2010 early morning with a World Champion (Marykom 48 kgs) and a Bronze Medalist (Kavita Chahal +81 kgs) in their midst. It was unfortunate that the other pugilists could not make much headway in this World Championship due to tremendous competition in all Wt Cats, moreso since AIBA has announced the inclusion of Women’s Boxing in London Olympic Games 2012. The Olympic Council of Asia followed suit and announced the introduction of Women’s Boxing in Asian Games Guangzhou in November 2010 in three wt cats ie. 51 kgs, 60 kgs & 75 kgs. This years World Women’s Boxing Championships saw a record number of 65 countries participating. The style of boxing has also changed drastically in that AIBA has directed its Referees & Judges to punish those indulging in Passive Boxing or Running around after taking a slender lead. Therefore this year’s World Championships saw some tremendous bouts of aggressive and skillful boxing with feminine charm and grace coupled with raw power in the punches. It was indeed a treat to watch the Women Boxers trading punch for punch with precision and timing. Having witnessed the Women Boxer’s in action and noticing that a lot of changes are required in Indian Boxer’s techniques if we are to continue to do well at World level Championships, we have contacted six International Boxing Coaches of repute from Countries such as USA, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Ireland etc to be part of a Coaches Seminar that Indian Boxing Federation is proposing to hold in India in the third week of January 2011 wherein 40 Indian Coaches will also be invited. This will be primarily for the benefit of improving the knowledge and skill of the Indian Coaches at grassroot level so that they are aware of the latest techniques and methodology being adopted by those producing World Champions in tune with the latest AIBA Rules of scoring.
DAY 1 OF WORLD WOMEN’S BOXING CHAMPIONSHIPS AT BARBADOS
The 6th World Women’s Boxing Championships commenced on 09 September at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium at Bridgetown, Barbados. The first session of Boxing commenced at 2.00 pm in which Mary Kom fought against Lungo Vesenne Natalie of Sweden in the 48 kgs wt cat. Mary Kom played the way in which is most comfortable in ie. to fight magnificently which is why she is known as ‘Magnificent Mary’ in AIBA Boxing Circles. Mary has played against the Swedish boxer in an Exhibition bout in Sweden last year which she won narrowly. Hence, she was a bit apprehensive when the bell sounded the start of the first round. However, she was supremely confident after the first 30 seconds and then started punching gloriously to lead 2:0 in the end of Round 1. At the end of Round 2 it was 6:0 pts in favour of Mary Kom. After Round 3 it was 8:0 pts and after Round 4 it was 10:1 in favour of Mary Kom. Her next opponent in the pre quarter finals on 11 September would be Jenny Smith of Australia.
In the 54 kgs wt cat, Priyanka Chaudhary fought extremely well but lost to the more experienced Asian Champion Zhang Qin from China on pts 10:6. At the end of Round 1 Priyanka was trailing by 2:4 pts, at the end of Round 2 she was still behind by 3:5 pts. At the end of Round 3 the score was 4:8 in favour of the Chinese Boxer and finally by the end of Round 4 it was 6:10 in favourof the Asian Champion from China.
Tomorrow ie. 10 September 2010, Sarita Devi will play against Kuleshova Alexandra of Russia in the 51 kgs wt cat while in the 64 kgs Pratibha Jakhar will face Jackson Cashmere of USA. In the 69 kgs cat Kavita Goyat will play against Strohmayer Andrea of Germany and in the 75 kgs cat, Ashwathy Mol is pitted against Sagaydakovskaya Inna of Russia
INDIAN BOXING FEDERATION ANNOUNCES TEAM LIST FOR COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2010 AND ASIAN GAMES 2010
Lanky
The Selection Trials for Commonwealth Games 2010 and Asian Games Guangzhou 2010 were held successfully at the newly renovated Airconditioned Training Hall at NS NIS Patiala from 26 – 28 August 2010. A total of 44 boxers from the Core Group participated in these Trials. It was the first time that the Selection Trials were held like a full fledged Championship with International Referees & Judges assisting the Seven member Selection Committee & Jury to pick up the best boxers to represent India at CWG 2010 and Asian Games 2010.
The Seven member Selection Committee & Jury comprised of Mr Jaslal Pradhan, Arjuna Awardee & Govt Nominee, Mr Padam Bahadur Mall, Arjuna Awardee & Asian Games 1962 Gold Medalist, Mr Mehtab Singh, Arjuna Awardee, Mr Jaipal Singh, Arjuna Awardee, Mr BI Fernandez, Foreign Expert from Cuba, Mr GS Sandhu, Chief National Coach and Col PK Muralidharan Raja, Secretary General, Indian Boxing Federation (IBF). Mr Bhupinder Singh, Vice President, IBF was also present.
It was indeed a treat to watch India’s top level boxers such as Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar,
Suranjoy Singh, Dinesh Kumar and other famed pugilists in action. The youngsters in the Core Group also proved their worth and gave a clear message to their seniors that they have arrived and will claim their places in the coming months. Amongst the spectators was German Coach Mirko Wolf who has been hired by Videocon for the Indian WSB Team. Having witnessed the trials he was full of praise for the wonderful training facilities at NS NIS Patiala and said that it can be compared to the best in the world. He also said that India has the luxury of having more than one boxer of world class standard in each weight category whereas many other countries had to generally make do with just one or two boxers. He complimented the Indian Boxing Federation’s farsightedness and progressive plans which have been responsible for this phenomenal performance. He also remarked that at this rate India could be the next Cuba in Boxing,
which was an excellent motivator for the Indian Boxers and the Coaches who have been toiling in earnest for the past few years. IBF would like to request the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and Sports Authority of India to kindly consider this Airconditioned Boxing Training Hall as a prototype of the minimum facility that should be provided for other SAI Centres where the National Boxing Coaching Camps are held.
The selection trials were held in a transparent manner wherein the boxers in each weight category had the opportunity of showing their mettle against the others in their category. Each bout was of full 3 rounds of 3 minutes each and judged with the AIBA approved Computerised Scoring System as an additional back up for the manual scoring that the Selection Committee & Jury members were keeping track of. All the bouts were captured through a Video Recording so as to replay them and check the performance of the boxers when in doubt. The following criteria was followed while selecting the boxers for the CWG 2010 and Asian Games 2010:
a) Previous performances at major International Competitions and National Championships.
b) Performances during National Coaching Camps.
c) Performance during Selection Trials from 26 – 28 Aug 2010.
d) Maturity and experience of boxers to win medals at International Boxing Competitions.
Indian Boxing Federation is pleased to announce the list of boxers for Commonwealth Games 2010 and Asian Games 2010 as follows:
COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2010
· 49 kgs Amandeep Singh RSPB
· 52 kgs Suranjoy Singh SSCB
· 56 kgs Akhil Kumar All India Police
· 60 kgs Jai Bhagawan All India Police
· 64 kgs Manoj Kumar RSPB
· 69 kgs Dilbagh Singh RSPB
· 75 kgs Vijender Singh All India Police
· 81 kgs Dinesh Kumar All India Police
· 91 kgs Manpreet Singh SSCB
· +91 kgs Paramjit Samota RSPB
ASIAN GAMES GUANGZHOU 2010
· 49 kgs Amandeep Singh RSPB
· 52 kgs Suranjoy Singh SSCB
· 56 kgs Chhote Lal Yadav SSCB
· 60 kgs Vikas Krishan HAR
· 64 kgs V Santhosh Kumar SSCB
· 69 kgs Dilbagh Singh RSPB
· 75 kgs Vijender Singh All India Police
· 81 kgs Dinesh Kumar All India Police
· 91 kgs Manpreet Singh SSCB
· +91 kgs Paramjit Samota RSPB
The Indian Senior Men’s Boxing Team will continue to train at NS NIS Patiala till 15 September 2010 where excellent facilities exist for preparations in a conducive manner and then shift base to Delhi to acclimatize themselves prior to CWG 2010.
Please find attached separately as another email, a few action photos of the selection trials and also a photograph of the newly renovated Boxing Training Hall at NIS Patiala. It was indeed a pleasure to hear from the boxers that after their daily training sessions, majority of them stay on inside the Airconditioned Hall with piped music to carry out individual cooling down and their own workouts and they get fully charged up due to the wonderful aesthetics and ambience inside the hall.
Mr Abhay Singh Chautala, President, Indian Boxing Federation and all members take this opportunity of thanking Mr LS Ranawat, Executive Director (Academics), NS NIS Patiala and his entire staff for the extremely positive attitude and support that they have rendered to the Indian Boxing Team throughout their stay. Not only has excellent facilities been provided in terms of boarding & lodging, training arrangements and the requisite morale boosting support, but the authorities have always gone out of their way to meet any additional requirements projected by the National Campers. The students of the Boxing Coaching Diploma Course at NIS led by their Chief Instructor Mr TL Gupta and other Instructors have gone out of their way to provide support to the Indian Boxing Campers. A special mention is also in order to appreciate the hardwork put in by Chief National Coach Mr GS Sandhu, Special Foreign Expert from Cuba Mr BI Fernandez and the team of Indian Coaches (Mr Shiv Singh, Mr Jaydev Bisht, Mr Jagdish Singh, Sub Ramanand, Nb Sub CA Kuttappa and Mr DS Yadav) as also the support staff which includes the Team Doctor Dr Karanjeet Singh, Physiotherapist Mr Hari Shankar Varma and the Masseurs Mr Bismillah Khan & Mr Ankit, without whose hardwork and dedication the above results would not have been possible.
Wishing Team India the very best of luck for wonderful performances at CWG 2010 and Asian Games Guangzhou 2010 and hoping that they make India proud with a rich haul of medals!
MUMBAI:
The Indian Boxing Federation and its
marketing partner Percept have launched
Fight Night, India’s first ever indoor
boxing bouts between top Indian and
international boxers to be held all
over the country at periodic intervals.
Monnet Ispat & Energy has signed a $1
million three-year deal with the Indian
Boxing Federation to become the team
and kit sponsor. Fight Night will also
be brought in association with Monnet
Ispat to celebrate the signing of the
Indian team sponsorship, which covers
the entire Indian team, mens senior,
junior and sub junior teams along with
the women’s senior, junior and sub junior
teams. The platform of Fight Night showcases
a mix of boxing with live entertainment
combined with a premium experience for
the audience.
Though this concept is largely practiced
in US and Europe, Indians will experience
it for the first time in a very big
way. Percept plans to organise the fight
night bouts in various places all over
the country at regular intervals. The
idea is to create a big buzz two weeks
before every Fight Night with sponsors
rolling out multimedia campaigns and
the boxers making appearances at various
high traffic locations. Hoardings, billboards
& cut outs of the competing boxers of
the forthcoming bouts will be showcased
at different places. Commenting on the
initiative, Percept Jt. MD Shailendra
Singh said, "A large populous nation
such as India cannot thrive on a single
sport. The quick fire quotient present
in the sport of Boxing provides a perfect
alternative sport for our audiences.
Fight Night will provide the ideal fast
paced sporting entertainment option
that today's audiences crave for." In
a bid to make boxing and Fight Night
a common man’s sport and a family outing,
Percept also plans to have interactive
contests woven around it. Matches will
also be played at high footfall venues
like malls, multiplexes, discos, clubs,
open grounds, college campuses, amusement
& theme parks etc. Fight Night will
have top Indian boxers competing with
international boxers in a form of an
exhibition bout and winners will be
awarded with trophies and citations.
One key element of boxing as a sport
is that it actually is ideally suited
for the modern lifestyle and is shorter
than even a T 20 cricket match with
bouts lasting for 15 minutes at best.
Monnet Ispat executive vice-chairman
and MD Sandeep Jajodia said, “Boxing
for Monnet makes a lot of sense from
two perspectives - from a sports lover’s
perspective the boxers have been delivering
consistently over the past few years
and now with this I hope it pushes them
to the next level in getting more glory
for the country.
From a point of view of the values –
both the sport and our primary product
– steel have the same values of strength,
resilience and the resolve to withstand
any ‘punch’ that is thrown." Said IBF
president Abhay Singh Chautala, “I am
extremely happy and thrilled at the
support boxing is getting in the form
of sponsorship that Monnet Group and
Mr Sandeep Jajodia are providing to
IBF. This is a sign of good work that
we have been trying to do, this was
just the right boost that we needed
to keep working much harder into making
our boxers the world beaters that they
already are on their way of becoming.
We thank our partners Percept for making
this happen and look forward to work
with Monnet Group towards taking Indian
boxing to newer successes.”
Asian
Youth Boxing at Tehran : Nine Boxers
enter medal round
ndian Youth Boxers
ruled the Ring at Tehran, Iran and
nine of them entered into the medal
round (semi finals). Devendro Singh
(48 kgs), Srinivas Surbetti (51 kgs),
and Vikas Kishan(60 kgs) who won their
quarterfinal bouts yesterday (report
sent to you all yesterday) have got
into the semifinals. In
today’s quarterfinals, barring
Shiva Thapa (54 kgs) who faced a local
opponent, all the others won and moved
into the semifinals. Todays results
are:
54 kgs Shiva
Thapa lost to Ehsan Sepahvand (Iran)
on pts 0:6.
In addition to
the above, Naveen Kumar (81 kgs) who
had earlier won his quarterfinals,
also moved into the semifinals. Manoj
Kumar (91 kgs) and Rajat Kaliraman
(+91 kgs) got byes and move directly
into semifinals. Thus Indian Boxers
in 9 wt cats advanced into the semifinals
and are hoping for a place in the
finals. All the semifinals are scheduled
to be held on 09 March 2010.
Magnificant
Mary and Intelligent Kavita win golds
for India at Asian Indoor Games
World
Champion Mary Kom was simply magnificent
today when she defeated local favourite
Hoa Nguyen Thi of Vietnam by a very
narrow margin of 8:6 pts. Mary used
her experience and ring craft to carve
out a superb win in front of the vociferous
Vietnamese home crowd which was rooting
for its boxer with drums and bugles
and all sorts of musical instruments.
Right from the start of the bout till
it ended, Mary was leading by a solitary
pt. At the end of Round 1 the score
was 1:0 and after Round 2 it was 3:2.
Round 3 ended with the score reading
6:5 and Mary increased the lead in Round
4 to win by 8:6 pts. Although the Vietnamese
boxer had age in her favour and hieght
advantage, it was Mary with her crisp
straight punches and sharp jabs while
side stepping who dominated the proceedings
all through.
The AIBA
Women s Commission conferred an ‘AIBA
Special Award on Mary Kom for her
outstanding contribution to boxing.
The Award was presented by Mrs Nieva
Embuldeniya from Sri Lanka, the Technical
Delegate of this Championship and
also the AIBA Executive Committee
Member from Asia. In the 51 kgs finals,
Sarita Devi was not her usual self
and was humbled by Qin Zhang of China
by a score of 9:7 pts. Round 1 ended
with a 0:0 score while it was 1:2
pts in favour of the Chinese boxer
at theend of Round 2. After Round
3 Sarita was leading by 5:4 pts but
the Chinese boxer shifted gears in
the fourth Round to take a decisve
lead and win the bout by 9:7 pts.
Sarita Devi thus got the Silver Medal.
In the 57 kgs, N Usha was not her
ebullient self as she lost a very
close bout to Peamwilai Laopeam of
Thailand. At the end of Round 1 Usha
had the lead with a score of 1:0 pts.
But at the end of Round 2 the score
was level at 1:1 pts. At the end of
Round 3 the Thai boxer increased the
lead to 3:1 pts. In Round 4 Usha could
only reduce the deficit by 1 pt and
the final score was in the Thai s
favour at 3:2 pts. Thus Usha received
a Silver Medal.
In the 64
kgs, Kavita Goyat surpassed everyone
s expectations and played intelligently
to win against Khassenova Saida of
Kazakhstan. At the end of Round 1,
Kavita was ahead by 2:0 pts. At the
end of Round 2 it was 4:2 pts and
after Round 3 it narrowed down to
5:4 pts. However Kavita used her superior
height advantage and played gustily
to notch up 3 valuable points and
finish the final Round with a score
of 8:4 pts.
A Group Photograph
of the Indian Team is attached alongwith
a few photos of Gold Medalists: Standing
(left to right) Bhaskar C Bhatt (Team
Coach), Dr Sanjogita Soodan (Doctor),
Kavita Goyat (Gold Medal), Mary Kom
(Gold Medal), Delilah (Physiotherapist),
Jaslal Pradhan (Manager), Col PK Muralidharan
Raja (Secretary General, IBF and Chairman
of Jury), Anoop Kumar (National Coach
Women), Gauri Vaidya (Referee &
Judge), Kneeling (left to right) Chhoto
Loura (Bronze Medal), Sarita Devi
(Silver Medal), N Usha (Silver Medal).
