With Olympic qualification round the corner, the second edition of the India Open Boxing Tournament kickstarts with 35 men and 37 women boxers from India vying for glory as close to 200 pugilists from 16 boxing powerhouses will participate at this tournament to be held at the Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium in Guwahati, Assam from May 20-24. The $70,000 tournament will see London Olympic bronze medallist
Mary Kom making her competitive debut at home in 51kg after opting out of the Asian Championships last month in order to prepare for the World Championships as the event will serve as good preparatory ground for Olympic qualification.
“I have been preparing well for the 51kg category. Having got a real hand idea of the competition in this class in Germany, I am ready to give my best at this tournament and test myself ahead of the World Championships,” said Mary Kom, who led six Indian boxers to gold in the last edition in New Delhi.
“I am glad the event will be hosted in Assam this time. With the North-East being a powerhouse of talent, I hope this gives an opportunity to the youngsters to watch and get inspired by watching us live,” she further added.
Keeping in mind the approved weight categories for Olympic qualification, some of the Indian pugilists have changed their weight categories.
6-time WC Mary Kom along with (L-R) Assam's Champion boxer and WC medalists, Lovlina Borgohain, Sinramjeet Kaur and Sonia Chahel gear up for 2nd edition of India Open in Guwahati After her stunning performance at the Asian Championships, where she became the first Indian to win a gold in 81kg,
Pooja Rani has gone back to her original weight category of 75kg. Assam’s
Bhagyabati Kachari too has made a similar change while Asian Championships bronze medallist Manisha Moun will be fighting it out in 57kg for the very first time.
Simranjit Kaur, a silver medallist at the continental tournament in 64kg, has switched to 60kg as well and will be competing with former world champion Sarita Devi, who added her eighth Asian medal this year. While the six-time world champion will be India’s biggest medal hope yet again,
Amit Panghal (52kg) will be looking to continue his dominance after conquering the Asian Championships gold.
Amit Panghal Assam’s
Shiva Thapa (60kg), who created a record by winning medals in four consecutive Asian Championships, will be aiming to impress the home crowd and so will
Ankushita Boro (64kg), a gold medallist at the 2017 World Youth Championship. 2017 World Boxing Championships bronze medallist
Gaurav Bidhuri (56kg) will be another of the big medal bets from India. The seven-day tournament will be held under the auspices of Government of India, Ministry Youth Affairs and Sports and the Sports Authority of India. The Assam government too has lent its full support to stage the event in Guwahati.
“The India Open is a great opportunity for the Indian boxers. In the run-up to their preparations for the World Championships, they will be facing some of the top boxers including Asian Games and World champions,” said Ajay Singh, President of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI).
“BFI vision is to take boxing to every corner of the country. Staging the second edition of the India Open in Assam will give step
in that direction and a chance to bring world-class boxers to the North-East region which has already contributed many Indian boxing success stories for India and will inspire the next generation to take up the sport in a much bigger way,” he further added. In the upcoming edition, while the gold medallists will get richer by $2,500, the silver medallists will receive $1,000 for their exploits as the countdown for the tournament begins.
Elite Men’s Team – India | Sl No | Name | Category |
| 1 | Deepak | 49kg |
| 2 | Govind Kumar Sahani | 49kg |
| 3 | Neeraj Swami | 49kg |
| 4 | Amit | 52kg |
| 5 | Gaurav Solanki | 52kg |
| 6 | Sachin | 52kg |
| 7 | Lalitha Prasad Polipalli | 52kg |
| 8 | Kavinder Singh Bisht | 56kg |
| 9 | Hussamuddin Mohammed | 56kg |
| 10 | Madan Lal | 56kg |
| 11 | Gaurav Bidhuri | 56kg |
| 12 | Shiva Thapa | 60kg |
| 13 | Manish Kaushik | 60kg |
| 14 | Ankit | 60kg |
| 15 | Rohit Tokas | 64kg |
| 16 | Ankit Khatana | 64kg |
| 17 | Ankush Dahiya | 64kg |
| 18 | Dinesh | 69kg |
| 18 | Ashish | 69kg |
| 19 | Duryodhan Singh Negi | 69kg |
| 20 | Ashish Kumar | 75kg |
| 21 | Prayag Chauhan | 75kg |
| 22 | Manjeet Singh Panghal | 75kg |
| 23 | Kavi | 75kg |
| 24 | Brijesh Yadav | 81kg |
| 25 | Sanjay | 81kg |
| 26 | Manish Panwar | 81kg |
| 27 | Harsh Lakra | 81kg |
| 28 | Sumit Sangwan | 91kg |
| 29 | Naman Tanwar | 91kg |
| 30 | Sanjeet | 91kg |
| 31 | Parveen Kumar | 91kg |
| 32 | Satish Kumar | Plus 91kg |
| 33 | Atul Thakur | Plus 91kg |
| 34 | Naveen Kumar | Plus 91kg |
| 35 | Hitesh | Plus 91kg |
Elite Women’s Team - India | Sl No | NAME | CATEGORY |
| 1 | Nitu | 48kg |
| 2 | Manju Rani | 48kg |
| 3 | Monika | 48kg |
| 4 | Kalaivani Srinivasan | 48kg |
| 5 | Zareen Nikhat | 51kg |
| 6 | Pinki Rani | 51kg |
| 7 | Chungneijang Mery Kom Hmangte | 51kg |
| 8 | VanlalDuati | 51kg |
| 9 | Jyoti | 51kg |
| 10 | Anamika | 51kg |
| 11 | Meenakumari Devi Maisnam | 54kg |
| 12 | Shiksha | 54kg |
| 13 | Jamuna Boro | 54kg |
| 14 | Sandhyarani Devi Yengkhom | 54kg |
| 15 | Sonia | 57kg |
| 16 | Sakshi | 57kg |
| 17 | Sonia Lather | 57kg |
| 18 | Manisha | 57kg |
| 19 | Neeraj | 57kg |
| 20 | Kros Hmangaihsangi | 57kg |
| 21 | Laishram Sarita Devi | 60kg |
| 22 | Simranjit Kaur Baatth | 60kg |
| 23 | Parveen | 60kg |
| 24 | Shashi Chopra | 60kg |
| 25 | Priyanka Choudhary | 60kg |
| 26 | Preeti Beniwal | 60kg |
| 27 | Pwilao Basumatary | 64kg |
| 28 | Manju Bamboriya | 64kg |
| 29 | Ankushita Boro | 64kg |
| 30 | Lalita | 64kg |
| 31 | Lovlina Borgohain | 69kg |
| 32 | Anjali | 69kg |
| 33 | Nupur | 75kg |
| 34 | Pooja | 75kg |
| 35 | Saweety | 75kg |
| 36 | Pooja Rani | 75kg |
| 37 | Bhagyabati Kachari | 75kg |
