Women's World Boxing Championship: Lovlina, Nikhat Zareen aim for medals as India hosts event for third time

India are set to hold another prestigious world event as IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship 2023 will be hosted in New Delhi from 15 to 26 March. Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain and reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen will lead India’s campaign at the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) event.

This is the third time India will be hosting the Women’s World Boxing Championship after 2006 and 2018. Legendary Mary Kom, a bronze medallist in the London Olympics, is the most decorated boxer in the history of the Women’s World Championship, having clinched the title six times along with a silver and bronze.

The organisers, Boxing Federation of India (BFI), have claimed that a total of 350+ boxers from 74 countries have registered so far for the biennial event which has a prize pool of Rs 20 crore.

Strong India squad

India have fielded a strong team of 12 boxers for the event which includes 2020 Tokyo Bronze medallist, Lovlina (75kg) who has two World Championships bronze medals to her name so far and will join seven other Olympic medallists boxing for glory in the upcoming Championship.

Nikhat Zareen, on the other hand, will defend her title in the 50kg category. She became the world champion in the 2022 IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship held in Istanbul, Turkey.

Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Nitu Ghanghas will also represent the country in the 48kg category. The two-time Youth World Champion will look to add yet another major medal to her name.

The Girls have something to say 🗣️

देखें किसमें कितना है दम 💪🥊

🥊 IBA Womens World Boxing Championships Anthem is out 🎧

🗓 March 15 - 26
🇮🇳 New Delhi@AjaySingh_SG l @debojo_m#itshertime #3daystogo #boxingnews #WorldChampionships #Sunday #boxing @IBA_Boxing pic.twitter.com/hytIwqNokP

— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) March 12, 2023

Manisha Moun who announced herself on the global stage with impressive performances at the 2018 World Championship in Delhi will be representing the country in the highly competitive 57kg featherweight category. Manisha won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championship.

2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jaismine Lamboria has been a quarter finalist in the 2022 edition and will box in the 60kg category.

Controversy at world championship

Several countries have decided to boycott the upcoming world event after the IBA, headed by a Russian Umar Kremlev, allowed Russian and Belarusian boxers to compete under their national flags. The countries boycotting the New Delhi event are Ukraine, US, UK, Canada, Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Norway.

Recap of #Veera - #IBAWWC2023 official mascot launch on Friday 📸

🥊 IBA Womens World Boxing Championships
🗓 15th - 26th March
🇮🇳 New Delhi@AjaySingh_SG l @debojo_m#itshertime #4daystogo #boxingnews #WorldChampionships #SaturdayMotivation #boxing @Anurag_Office @IBA_Boxing pic.twitter.com/OhoJF4azEA

— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) March 11, 2023

The world championship will also not be considered a qualification event for Paris Olympics 2024 as declared by International Olympic Committee (IOC) earlier. The IBA, however, has declared it as a main qualification event.

It’s the latest flashpoint between IOC and IBA. The world boxing body had been suspended by IOC in 2019 due to governance and financial issues. IBA was not allowed to be involved in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as well. The IOC has also announced that it will separately host qualifying events for the 2024 Summer Games.

Dates for the event and venue:

The Women’s World Boxing Championship 2023 will be held from 15 to 26 March at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi.

Live streaming:

The Women’s World Boxing Championship 2023 will be shown live on Doordarshan TV and Doordarshan’s Youtube channel from 16 March onwards.

The broadcast of the matches from the quarter-finals onwards will also be available on Sony network channels and the SonyLiv app.

Prize Money:

BFI has announced a total prize pool of Rs 20 crore. Rs 10 crore being the pool for gold medallists. Boxers who finish as runners-up in their categories as well as those who claim bronze will receive their prizes from pools of Rs 5 crore respectively.

Indian squad: Nitu Ghanghas (48kg), Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Sakshi Chaudhary (52kg), Preeti (54kg), Manisha Moun (57kg), Jaismine Lamboria (60kg), Shashi Chopra (63kg), Manju Bamboria (66kg), Sanamcha Chanu (70kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), Saweety Boora (81kg) and Nupur Sheoran (81+kg)

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