Indian Women Boxing Squad, CWG 2022: Lovlina, Nikhat, Nitu, and Jasmine

The Indian Women’s boxing squad has been finalised for Commonwealth Games 2022 Birmingham after rigorous trials and selection, held on 11th June 2022 along with male counterparts (trials and selection on 2nd June). The trials and selection were held at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi.

The final list includes world champion Nikhat Zareen (50 kg), a bronze medallist at Tokyo Olympics Lovlina Borgohain (70 kg), Neetu (48 kg), and Jasmine (60 kg).

In their individual matches, two-time Strandia Memoria Gold Medallist Nikhat defeated Meenakshi of Haryana by 7-0 in a unanimous decision. Lovlina defeated Pooja from Railways in a tight match. The third member of the squad, Neetu won in a split decision 5-2 over Manju Rani, silver medallist 2019. Neetu is a two-time former youth world champion.

Asian Youth Boxing Champion 2021 Jasmine qualified for CWG 2022, Birmingham after defeating Parveen Hooda, bronze medallist at World Championship 2022 in a quick light-middleweight finale.

Lovlina, Nikhat, Nitu, and Jasmine outclassed their opponents in their individual matches and got selected in the final list for the upcoming CWG 2022. The Boxing Federation of India has shortlisted eight male and four female boxers for the Birmingham Games, based on the results of trials and the selection process.

The final twelve boxers: Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Lovlina Borgohain (70 KG), Neetu (48 KG), Jasmine (60 KG), Shiva Thapa (63.5 KG), Amit Panghal (51 KG), Rohit Tokas (67 KG), Md. Hussamuddin (57 KG), Sumit (75 KG), Sanjeet (92 KG), Ashish Kumar (80 KG), and Sagar (92 KG plus).

In a related event, World Champion Mary Kom withdrew her candidature from CWG 2022 on 10th June’22. She was taking medical treatment and resumed her training but unfortunately her injury resurfaced, and had to stop the practice. She is one of the brightest contenders for medals and her withdrawal will affect India’s final medal tally.

Indian boxing squad is in their last leg of the preparation for the marquee event in Birmingham.

The team will take part in a multi-national training camp in Ireland in the latter half of this month before the final event. This camp will provide good exposure ahead of the tournament.

Commonwealth Games 2022 will be held at various venues all across Birmingham and the West Midlands from 28th July to 8th August 2022.