CHENNAI: As many as eight boxers (six men and two women) are expected to give the Strandja Memorial Tournament a miss.
As reported by The New Indian Express earlier this month, all the national champions will be travelling for the prestigious meet in Sofia (Bulgaria) -- the oldest amateur boxing competition in Europe -- which is scheduled to be held from February 19 to 28.
Boxers like Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), Sanjeet (91kg) and Akash (54kg), World Championships bronze medallist, had earlier decided to miss the event.
Now, it is learnt that Asian champion Pooja Rani (81kg), Deepak Bhoria (51kg) and former Worlds silver medallist Sonia Lather (57kg) will be among the absentees due to various reasons. Others who're expected to skip the event are Govind Sahani (48kg) and Nishant Dev (71kg).
It should be noted that the men's section comprises 13 weight categories while the women's side will have 12. As most of the players' participation depended on their level of fitness, some of them were hoping to get ready for the event. After being unable to attain the desired level of fitness, they reportedly informed the federation late. That meant the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) were unable to find a replacement on time. Generally, the No 2 ranked boxers act as a replacement but that could not be possible this time due to time constraints. A federation official said that the original travelling list have already had their visas approved and those who'll travel are likely to leave by Friday.
"Some of them were not ready and had been informed about their unavailability. We had initially submitted the list and that had been sanctioned. Now it's too late to send replacements," a BFI official said.
This is a vital event for the pugilists ahead of a busy year. For the women, especially, the way they perform in Sofia could be an indicator on how they'll fare during the upcoming Worlds, slated to be held in May. Despite challenges during the national camp due to Covid, the coaches are happy with how the women are shaping up and are hopeful that the travelling bunch can pack a punch during the Bulgaria meet.
Youth watch
Budding boxers from the country are also undergoing full-fledged training as they'll be taking part in the ASBC Asian Youth and Junior Boxing championships, scheduled to take place in Amman, Jordan from February 27 to March 15.
A total of 98 youth and junior boxers (both boys and girls) are currently training in Rohtak and Bhopal with the Amman event in mind.