New Delhi: Veteran L. Sarita Devi (60kg) will be gunning for her first world championship medal in more than 10 years after she was named in India’s 10-strong women’s boxing squad on Thursday, along with five debutants.
Along with Sarita, India Open gold-medallists Neeraj (57kg) and Jamuna Boro (54kg) also made the squad which will be headlined by six-time world champion M.C. Mary Kom (51kg), who was picked on Wednesday without a trial on the basis of her performance in the past few months.
Manju Rani (48kg), Jamuna Boro (54kg), Neeraj (57kg), Manju Bomboriya (64kg), and Nandini (81kg) will be competing in the mega-event for the first time.
Mary Kom’s selection without a trial was on Wednesday criticised by former junior world Nikhat Zareen, who alleged that she was stopped from fighting a scheduled trial bout on Tuesday.
World Championships bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) was also picked without undergoing trials, which concluded on Thursday. The big event is scheduled in Russia from October 3 to 13.
Eight-time Asian medallist Sarita Devi, a world champion in 2006, confirmed her place after defeating last year’s world bronze-medallist Simranjit Kaur. Simranjit had won a gold in the Indonesia President’s Cup last month. In the 75kg category, Asian Champio-nships gold-medallist Pooja Rani was beaten by Saweety Boora, a gold-medallist from the same tournament a year before.
