<p>The coveted Olympic spots will give the Indian boxers more incentive to perform well when they enter the ring at the Asian Games starting on Sunday. They are hoping to improve on the two medals they won at the last competition.</p>
<p>Nikhat Zareen, a two-time world champion, and Olympic bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain are the leaders of India’s talented team.<img decoding=”async” class=”alignnone wp-image-198456″ src=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/theindiaprint.com-anurag-thakur-the-minister-of-sports-explains-why-he-did-not-visit-china-images-20.jpg” alt=”theindiaprint.com anurag thakur the minister of sports explains why he did not visit china images 20″ width=”1220″ height=”812″ srcset=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/theindiaprint.com-anurag-thakur-the-minister-of-sports-explains-why-he-did-not-visit-china-images-20.jpg 275w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/theindiaprint.com-anurag-thakur-the-minister-of-sports-explains-why-he-did-not-visit-china-images-20-150×100.jpg 150w” sizes=”(max-width: 1220px) 100vw, 1220px” title=”Indian boxers want to win more medals at the Asian Games and secure spots in the Olympics 9″></p>
<p>The three world championship medalists in the men’s division—the seasoned Shiva Thapa, Deepak Bhoria, and Nishant Dev—will try to add an Asian Games medal to their collection and guarantee their trip to Paris.</p>
<p>OLYMPIC QUALIFIER</p>
<p>Boxers from the region compete in their first Olympic qualifying event at the Asian Games. Over the 13 weight classes, a total of 34 quotas are up for grabs.</p>
<p>The semifinalists in the women’s 50kg, 54kg, 57kg, and 60kg categories as well as the winners of the 66kg and 75kg events will earn spots in the Paris Games.</p>
<p>In the men’s competition, quotas will be awarded to the gold and silver medalists in each of the seven weight categories.</p>
<p>ZAREEN DREW A HARD DRAW</p>
<p>Since the 2018 edition, in which the Indian women’s boxers failed to take home any prizes, the number of women’s events has quadrupled from three to six.</p>
<p>However, world championship bronze medalist Parveen Hooda (57 kg), Commonwealth Games medalist Jaismine Lamboria (60 kg), and Preeti Pawar have all shown the willingness to compete with Zareen (50 kg) and Lovlina (75 kg).</p>
<p>For the last two years, Zareen has been in excellent shape. She will begin her campaign, though, against Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Tam, a two-time Asian Champion, in a repeat of the World Championships final from March.</p>
<p>In the semifinals, she may compete against Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat, a two-time world bronze medalist.</p>
<p>Lovlina, who gained weight from 69kg, is still figuring out the middleweight division.</p>
<p>The Assam fighter has been training hard to increase her strength and seems to be in contention for a gold after winning the Asian and World Championships in her new 75kg division.</p>
<p>The Assamese boxer, who had a first-round bye, will take on the Korean boxer Seong Suyeon in the quarterfinals and is one match away from winning a medal.</p>
<p>Jaismine will start her campaign against Ashour HGS of Saudi Arabia after also receiving a bye in the first round.</p>
<p>Arundhati Chaudhary, who competes in the 66 kg division, will face Yang Lui, the current world champion, in the first round.</p>
<p>In the initial rounds of the 54 kg and 57 kg weight classes, Preeti will compete against Jordan’s Alahasanat Silina while Parveen will face Xu Ziehun of China.</p>
<p>SHIVA HAD AN EASY DRAW; DEEPAK AND NISHANT HAD A TRICKY ONE</p>
<p>Shiva is the only male grappler with previous experience participating in the continental tournament out of the seven competitors. After being disqualified from the Tokyo Games, the six-time Asian Championship medalist will be eager to secure an Olympic quota.</p>
<p>Shiva was given a simple draw and should go to the final. In the semifinals, he most likely to compete against Chu-en Lai of Chinese Taipei.</p>
<p>Deepak, who overcame the previous light flyweight champion Amit Panghal to qualify for the Games, will be held to a high standard. The Hisar fighter is known for his daring style of boxing and has a knack for taking down some of the game’s titans.</p>
<p>If he defeats Muhammad Abdul Qaiyum Bin Affrin of Malaysia in his first round, the Japanese bantamweight world champion Tomoya Tsuboi will be his opponent in the next round.</p>
<p>At the World Championships in May, Nishant also dazzled everyone with his boxing prowess. He has a challenging draw. Sewon Okazawa of Japan, the world champion in 2012, might be his opponent in the quarterfinals. If he prevails, a repeat with Aslanbek Shymbergenov in the semifinals is a possibility. Nishant had been defeated by the Kazakh in the Worlds semifinal in May.</p>
<p>There are six weight categories for women and seven for men in the Asian Games.</p>
<p>India has taken home two medals from the last competition in 2018, a gold and a bronze.</p>
<p>BOXING SQUAD OF INDIA</p>
<p>Women’s weights: 50 kg for Nikhat Zareen, 54 kg for Preeti Pawar, 57 kg for Parveen Hooda, 60 kg for Jaismine Lamboria, 66 kg for Arundhati Chaudhary, and 75 kg for Lovlina Borgohain.</p>
<p>Men: Sanjeet (92 kg), Narender Berwal (+92 kg), Sachin Siwach (57 kg), Shiva Thapa (63.5 kg), Nishant Dev (71 kg), Lakshya Chahar (80 kg).</p>
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Indian boxers want to win more medals at the Asian Games and secure spots in the Olympics
