Six-time world champion MC Mary Kom and Asian Games gold-medallist Amit Panghal are among the top names missing from the list of boxers finalised for the 13-day national camps for men and women that will get underway at separate locations from December 11.
In fact, none of the five male boxers who competed in the Tokyo Olympics, including Manish Kaushik, Ashish Chaudhary, Vikas Krishan and Satish Kumar, have made the list of 52 men who will train from December 11 to 24 at Patiala's National Institute of Sports (NIS). Of these, Vikas is currently nursing a shoulder injury, which required surgery.
I am just training at home right now. I will get down to rigorous training with my team in mid January and prepare for the world championships."
—Mary Kom
The women's camp will be held at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Centre in Rohtak on the exact same dates.
"It's because they did not compete in the national championships. It was pre-decided that this camp will only be for national medal winners and the ones who were picked after a trial at the end of Nationals," a top federation source said.
"It does not apply to camps that will be held later and nobody should get too concerned about missing out here. All those who are not there right now will have a chance to be back in the camps that will be held later," he added.
When contacted, Mary Kom did not dwell on the subject and said, "I am just training at home right now. I will get down to rigorous training with my team in mid January and prepare for the world championships."
The 38-year-old Manipuri, who is a former Olympic bronze-medallist, is also a serving Rajya Sabha MP. She is aiming to compete in the world championships and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next year.
The women's world championship, to be held in Istanbul, was pushed from December this year to March by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event is set to be further delayed to May next year.
