CHENNAI: The inevitable has transpired. Taking into account the unrelenting Covid-19 situation in India, the Asian Boxing Championships that was scheduled to be held in New Delhi next month has been shifted to the United Arab Emirates.
The continental meet was originally supposed to be held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium from May 21 to May 31. Now, it will instead be held in Dubai and the event has been extended by a day. The decision was taken by the Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC), after discussion with the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), keeping the Olympics in mind.
"The management of the Asian Boxing Confederation followed the Indian Covid-19 situation which was getting worse every day, therefore the decision has been done to move the event to Dubai. The Olympic Games is the most important event of the year and the ASBC president Mr Anas Alotaiba decided to keep the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships as active preparation before Tokyo," the ASBC said in a release.
The BFI will now work alongside the UAE boxing federation to conduct the event. BFI president Ajay Singh conceded that they had very little option but to shift the event taking into consideration the safety of the athletes.
"It's unfortunate that we have to shift the venue out of India. We were very keen to host the championships in Delhi but we are left with no options. Boxers' safety is the most important concern for us and hence we had to take this decision. We are grateful to (the) UAE for accepting our request and agreeing to co-host on such short notice. We are thankful to all member federations and ASBC for their cooperation,” Singh said in a release.
BFI had recently named a 10-member women's team for the event. The team includes all Olympic-bound boxers — MC Mary Kom (51 kg), Simranjit Kaur (60 kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69 kg) and Pooja Rani (75 kg). The men's team is yet to be named as most of the elite boxers, including chief coach CA Kuttappa, had tested positive for coronavirus, thereby affecting their camp in Patiala. A number of nations including the UAE have India on the red list due to the ongoing pandemic. So it's still anyone's guess if Mary & Co will be on a flight for UAE when the competition begins.