2nd Olympic qualifiers: Dev, Panghal to lead India’s challenge as BFI names 9-member squad

Panghal, who recently won the gold medal in the Strandja Memorial tournament, is the current national champion and has been looking in great touch.

New Delhi: The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has selected nine boxers, including 2022 Commonwealth Games champion Amit Panghal (51kg) and World Championships bronze medallist Nishant Dev (71kg), to represent India at the second World Qualification Tournament of Paris Olympic Games 2024, scheduled to take place from May 23 to June 3 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Panghal, who recently won the gold medal in the Strandja Memorial tournament, is the current national champion and has been looking in great touch.

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Nishant, on the other hand, reached the final stage of the first Olympic qualifier held in Italy in March and was one win away from securing the Olympic quota.

They will be accompanied by another Strandja gold medallist and national champion, Sachin (57kg), 2022 Asian Games bronze medallist Narender Berwal (+92kg) and national champion Sanjeet Kumar (92kg). Abhinash Jamwal (63.5kg) and Abhimanyu Loura (80kg) are also part of the squad that will compete for Paris 2024 quotas in their respective categories.

Former youth world champions Ankushita Boro (60kg) and Arundhati Choudhary (66kg), who is also the current national champion, will look to add two more quotas in the women’s category.

There are five new additions in the squad that competed in the first Olympic qualifiers that took place in Italy. Ankushita, who played in 66kg category in the first qualifier, will compete in 60 kg category this time around.

India have already secured four quotas for Paris 2024, with Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) confirming their berths with impressive performances at the Asian Games A total of 51 Olympic quotas will be available in the 2nd World Qualification Tournament: 28 for men and 23 for women.