Boxing
Dmitrij Dmitruk to continue as head coach of Indian boxing team
Foreign coach Dmitrij Dmitruk will continue as head of the Indian boxing team as BFI accepted resgination of Bernard Dunne.
Deepak Bhoria, Mohammad Husamuddin, Nishant Dev and Shiva Thapa (from left to right).
The Boxing Federation of India accepted the resignation of the high-performance director Bernard Dunne but head coach Dmitrij Dmitruk will continue in his role despite the poor show of the Indian boxers at the World Olympic qualifiers.
The decision was taken during the federation’s way forward meeting, which was chaired by the BFI President Ajay Singh and attended by Secretary General Hemanta Kumar Kalita, Treasurer Digvijay Singh, Vice President Rajesh Bhandari and Chairman of BFI’s Disciplinary & Dispute Commission DP Bhatt.
As reported by The Bridge earlier, HPD Bernard had sent his resignation from Italy and it was decided to relieve him of his duty last week only.
“Bernard Dunne was an integral part of BFI’s set-up but unfortunately we have to mutually part ways. His resignation was accepted by the committee. During his tenure, the Indian boxers have achieved multiple milestones. We express our sincere gratitude for his dedication, hard work, and contributions and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours,” commented BFI President Ajay Singh.
The 44-year-old former Irish boxer, Dunne took over as high-performance director of Indian boxing in 2022. The Indian team won several international medals under his tenure, including four gold medals at the 2023 Women’s World Championships, three bronze at the 2023 Men’s World Championships, and five medals at the 2022 Asian Games.
Despite the success, the poor show of men's boxers after the World Championships and a controversial decision to replace selection trials with evaluation tests were the reasons behind the downfall of Dunne.
Head coach CA Kuttappa and other coaches including L Devendro Singh, Torak Kharpran, Khimanand Belwal, DS Yadav, Pranamika Borah, Abhishek Sah, and Poonam Sharma will continue to be part of the coaching structure. Jai Singh Patil and Durga Prasad Gandhamalla will be the new additions to the coaches’ list.
