Six-time Asian medalist Shiva Thapa and Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Rohit Tokas booked themselves into the quarter-finals of the 6th Elite Men's National Boxing Championships 2022 in Hisar on Monday.

Also Read: Men's National Boxing Championships 2022: Commonwealth Games gold medalist Gaurav Solanki in round of 16

Thapa (63.5kg), representing Assam, beat Delhi's Jaswinder Singh 5-0 in their last-16-round bout. The 2015 World Championships bronze medalist utilized his experience and supreme technical ability to dominate the entire bout. He blanked his opponent to secure the win by unanimous decision. He will face the winner of the bout between Sanu T of Kerala and Ashutosh Kumar of Punjab in his quarter-final on Wednesday.

On the other hand, Tokas (67kg) of the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) defeated Jai Singh of Chhattisgarh 5-0 in a one-sided contest. Courtesy of his attacking brilliance, Tokas had the upper hand over his opponent and managed to keep him quiet throughout the bout. Tokas will take the ring against the winner of the bout between Nishchaya and Aman Duhan in the quarters.

Meanwhile, Asian Games silver medalist Ashish Kumar (80kg) has also crossed the last-16 stage hurdle. The Himachal Pradesh player easily defeated Sumit Poonia of Rajasthan. At the same time, World Youth Champion (2016) Sachin (57kg) won against Haryana's Neeraj. The RSPB boxers did not give any chance to the opponent player on the basis of an excellent attack. In the same weight category, Rushikesh Goud of Maharashtra defeated Sonu of Bihar 5-0.

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Shivam Tiwari (60kg) of All India Police defeated Savio Michael of Telangana. While Pavan Kumar N (51kg) of Karnataka defeated Pawan Kumar Arya of Uttarakhand. He will face off against Prashant Yadav of Delhi. A total of 386 boxers from 13 different weight categories are participating in the Men's National Boxing Championships 2022.

One has already featured at the Paris Olympics in women's boxing 66kg ­cate­gory while one is supposed to feature 57kg cate­gory on Friday, and both are at the centre of attraction for the last two days. But why? Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu‑ting of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) failed the gender eligibility tests during the 2023 World Championships but were allowed to fight in women's boxing at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024.

Why did IBA ban them?

As per the International Boxing Association's president Umar Kremlev, "both boxers have XY chromosomes" which made them ineligible for the World Championships last year. Both Imane and Lin were scrapped from their medals, “following a comprehensive review and was intended to uphold the fairness and integrity of the competition”, as cited by IBA.

After the International Olympic Committee allowed both the boxers in the Women's category, the internet reacted with terms like, "they are allowing men in women's boxing". Barry McGuigan, a former boxing World Champion wrote on X, “It’s shocking that they were ­actually allowed to get this far, what is going on?”

The world saw what happened when Imane Khelif took on the boxing ring against Italy's Angela Carini. Carini was first punched in the face by Khelif and just after 46 seconds of the match, she decided not to fight anymore, which was later confirmed by Emanuele Renzini, Italy's boxing coach.

Soon after that, the internet started filled with posts with #IStandWithAngelaCarini. 

This woman, Angela Carini, is crying because her dream of winning a medal for her late father was destroyed in 46 seconds.

Male boxer Imane Khelif beat up Angela Carini and punched her in the face.#IStandWithAngelaCarini #Paris2024 

The @Olympics should be ashamed pic.twitter.com/Ic8hjU1sMD

— 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 (@Matt_Pinner) August 1, 2024

Why did the IOC allow them?

But, the thing is that the IOC has banned the International Boxing Association from running the Olympic boxing tournament due to governance issues and controversial judgement scandals. Thus, the IOC has created the "Paris 2024 Boxing Unit" to run the boxing tournament at the Olympics.

The Paris 2024 Boxing Unit have relaxed rules than IBA and used the rules of the Tokyo Olympics as a baseline for the rules for Paris 2024. 

“The PBU used the Tokyo 2020 ­boxing rules (enforced at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the related quali­fying tournaments) as a baseline to develop its regulations. Those rules descended from the Rio 2016 rules. The PBU endeavoured to restrict amendments to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparation and guaranteeing consistency between Olympic Games," IOC stated. 

The IOC has acknowledged the fact that both Imane Khelif and Lin Yu‑ting have failed the gender eligibility tests via their MyInfo website. 

The website stated that Khelif was “disqualified just hours before her gold medal showdown against Yang Liu at the 2023 world championships in New Delhi, India after her elevated ­levels of testosterone failed to meet the eligibility criteria” while acknowledging that Lin was “stripped of her bronze medal after failing to meet eligibility requirements based on the results of a biochemical test.

But IOC has not given any detail on what criteria both the boxers were allowed to participate in the Women's category.

It will be interesting to see what happens when Lin Yu‑ting takes on Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan in the 57kg category on Friday.

India's star boxers Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borogohain were handed a tough draw in the boxing event of the Paris Olympics 2024. 

Two-time World Champion Nikhat Zareen will face Germany’s Maxi Carina Kloetzer in the round of 32 of the women’s 50kg boxing event. However, she will have to go through the current Asian Games Champion People’s Republic of China’s Wu Yu in the Round of 16.

Besides being the reigning Asian Games Champion, Wu Yu is the top-seeded boxer in the 50kg category and World Champion in the 52kg category while Nikhat is the World Champion in the 50kg category.

And, if Nikhat goes past the Chinese boxer, she will have to potentially face either Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat or Uzbekistan’s Sabina Bobokulova in the quarter-finals. Nikhat had lost to Raksat in the Asian Games silver-medal match while facing defeat against Bobokulova in the Strandja Memorial final in February.

Read Also | Indian Debutants to watch out for in Paris Olympics 2024

Tough draw for Lovlina as well

Tokyo Olympics Bronze medalist and a medal hope for India at the Paris Olympics 2024, Lovlina Boroghain will face Sunniva Hofstad of Norway in the Women's 75kg category followed by a potential quarter-final against China’s Li Qian. Lovlina had faced a tough defeat at the hands of Hofstad in the Asian Games gold medal match last year in Hangzhou.

And, if Lovlina manages to go through to the next round, she will face the current European champion third-seeded Amina Zidani of France. 

Read Also | India at Olympics: India's Olympic medal tally by every edition 

Panghal and Dev received byes 

Indian men's boxers Amit Panghal and Nishant Dev received first-round byes in the men’s 51kg and 71kg, respectively. Both of them will fight in the Round of 16. Panghal will fight against Zambia’s Patrick Chinyemba while Dev will face Jose Rodriguez Tenorio of Ecuador in the round of 16.

Paris Olympics 2024 Boxing Draw for Indian boxers

• Women 50kg: Nikhat Zareen vs Maxi Carina Kloetzer (GER) - Round of 32
• Women’s 54kg: Preeti Pawar vs Vo Thi Kim Anh (VIE) - Round of 32
• Women’s 57kg: Jaismine Lamboria vs Nesthy Petecio (PHI) - Round of 32
• Women’s 75kg: Round of 16: Lovlina Borgohain vs Sunniva Hofstad (NOR) - Round of 16
• Men’s 51kg: Round of 16: Amit Panghal vs Patrick Chinyemba (ZAM) - Round of 16
• Men’s 71kg: Round of 16: Nishant Dev vs Jose Rodriguez Tenorio (ECU) - Round of 16

Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist boxer Lovlina Borgohain won a silver medal in the women's 75kg category at the Czech Grand Prix 2024 in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic.

In the round-robin tournament, Lovlina Borgohain won against Chantelle Reid of England but lost to Cindy Ngamba and Li Qian. Borgohain lost her final match against the reigning Asian Games champion late on Saturday night by a margin of 2-3.

Also Read: Amit Panghal earns India's fifth Paris Olympics 2024 quota in Boxing

Qian is a two-time Olympic medalist and has three World Championship medals, including one gold to her name.

Four boxers were included in the women's 75 kg category in this tournament organized under the aegis of World Boxing. Borgohain, Refugee Boxing Team's Cindy Ngamba, Li Qian, and England's Chantelle Reid - and it is being held in a round-robin format.

Borgohain managed only one win in the tournament

Lovlina Borgohain managed only one win in the tournament, losing two of her three matches. This boxer from Assam had won her first match against England's Chantelle Reid by a split decision in a tough match, but later she had to face defeat from Cindy Ngamba and Li Qian. 

Lovlina gunning for her second Olympic medal

The 26-year-old boxer, who is the only Indian to participate in the tournament, is gunning for her second Olympic medal as she is one of the six Indian boxers to qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024.

Also Read: Nishant Dev achieves Paris Olympic quota, becomes the first male boxer to do so

Indian boxing team for Paris Games

The Indian boxing team for Paris 2024 is a mix of experienced Olympians and rising stars. In the women's category, Borgohain is joined by two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen (50 kg), Preeti Pawar (54 kg), and Jasmine Lamboria (57 kg). The men's team includes Amit Panghal (51 kg), and Nishant Dev (71 kg).

World Championship silver medalist Amit Panghal secured India's fifth Paris Olympics 2024 quota in boxing as he defeated China's Chuang Liu in the 51kg quarterfinals of the 2nd World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok on Sunday. The Indian boxer managed a hard-fought 5-0 win over the Chinese opponent to win India's second male boxing quota for the upcoming Olympics. 

Panghal had to make a solid comeback in the second round after being down on 4 cards in the first round of the match. This will be the second Olympics participation for the former World No. 1.

For Panghal, the 2018 Asian Games and 2022 Commonwealth Games Champion, this was his last chance to secure a birth for the Olympics as he lost against world championship bronze medallist Deepak Bhoria in the selection trials and could not appear in the earlier two qualifying events.

Read Also: Paris Olympics 2024: Indian athletes who qualified for the Paris 2024

Along with Panghal, Nishant Dev (71kg), Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) have won Paris Olympics Quota in Boxing.

Amit Panghal qualifies for the Paris Olympics after beating a Chinese boxer 5-0 in the Men's 51kg quarterfinals at the World Olympic Boxing Qualifier in Bangkok. 🇮🇳💙#AmitPanghal #Olympics #olympicboxing #ParisOlympic #Paris2024 #IndianSports pic.twitter.com/zi3qTgOI31

— Sportz Point (@sportz_point) June 2, 2024

Veteran boxer and 2012 Olympic Games bronze medalist MC Mary Kom on Friday has resigned from the post of chef-de-mission of the Indian contingent for the Paris Olympics 2024, citing personal reasons.

Also Read: India at Olympics: India's medals at the Olympics by sports

Mary Kom, who was appointed as the Chef-de-Mission of India's Paris Olympics 2024 contingent last month, has written a letter to PT Usha, President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), requesting her to be relieved from the post. "I consider it an honor to serve my country in every way possible, and I was mentally prepared for it. However, I regret that I will not be able to uphold the prestigious responsibility and would like to resign, owing to personal reasons. It is embarrassing to retreat from a commitment, which I seldom do, but I am left with no choice. I am there to cheer on my country and the athletes competing in this Olympic Games, with great expectations," Mary Kom stated in her letter to the IOA President.

The IOA had announced the officials for the Paris Olympics 2024 on March 21, starting on July 26. Mary Kom was selected as the Chef de Mission, with Shiva Keshavan named as her deputy. The Chef de Mission is the most important administrative member of a country's contingent in any Olympics. The person remains in touch with the organizing committee and is responsible for arranging all the facilities related to the athletes. Even in case of any dispute, the post represents the players.

The IOA chief acknowledged receiving a letter from MC Mary Kom and said a replacement would be named after proper consultation. PT Usha said, "We are sad that Olympic medal winning boxer and Chairperson of the IOA Athletes Commission Mary Kom has stepped down citing personal reasons. We respect her decision and her privacy. I shall make the appropriate consultations and soon make an announcement about the replacement for Mary Kom." Usha said she had a conversation with Mary Kom after receiving her letter. I completely understand her request and respect her decision. I have also conveyed to her that she will always have my own support and that of IOA. I also request everyone to respect the legendary boxer's privacy,"

Also Read: From Abhinav Brinda to PV Sindhu: Every First for India at Olympics

The 41-year-old boxer has represented the country in two editions of the Olympic Games, the 2012 London Olympics and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. She won a bronze medal at the 2012 Games in London but missed out on a medal at the Tokyo Games. Mary, 41, is no longer eligible in Olympic-style boxing because rules prevent anyone aged 40 and older from competing.

The Paris Olympics 2024 is scheduled to be held in France from July 26 to August 11.