In the pre-Olympics year, multiple World champion and Olympic bronze medallist M.C. Mary Kom and several other Indian stars will be keen to make the most of the experience of competing in an international event at home when they participate in the India Open boxing tournament beginning at the Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium here on Monday.
With the men and women’s World championships — which are likely to be the Olympic qualifying events — set to be held in Russia in September and October respectively, the $70,000 tournament will serve as a fine preparatory event.
“I will gain experience from here and will give my best. My target is 2020 Olympics. I want to win a gold medal for the country. It’s a great opportunity not just for the elite boxes but also for the youngsters,” said Mary, who will be competing in the 51kg, category here on Sunday.
Thapa excited
Local boy and former World championships bronze medallist Shiva Thapa, who will feature in 60kg but is likely to jump to 63kg, was excited to compete at home after 2016 when he had secured the National title. “My new style has benefited me. People love attacking boxing and I working on it,” said Shiva.
Other top male boxers Amit Panghal (52kg), Gaurav Bidhuri (56kg), Kavinder Singh Bisht (56kg) and Ashish Kumar (75kg) will also be seen in action among the 35 Indians in fray.
Of the 37 Indian women, champion L. Sarita Devi (60kg), Pooja Rani (who switched from 81kg to 75kg), Sonia Chahal (57kg), Simranjit Kaur (who changed from 64kg to 60kg) and local girl Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) are some of the prominent faces.
Conceptualised to give international competition to maximum Indian boxers, the second edition of the event has attracted some fine overseas boxers including the Uzbek trio of Asian Games gold medallists Bobo Baturov and Mirzakhalilov Mirazizbek and Jasurbek Latipov, Youth Olympic champion Brian Agustin Arregui of Argentina, World champion Josie Gabuco of Philippines and Worlds bronze medallist Decha Butdee of Thailand.
India’s chief performance director Santiago Nieva counted the merits of the event.
“In a single event we get more international bouts than we get in four-five international exposures. This tournament is an important preparation for the World championships,” said Nieva.