Harpal Singh Bedi
New Delhi, 29 May Campaigner Mary Kom , defending champion Amit Panghal and five other Indian pugilists will be seen in action in the finals at the 2021 ASBC Asian Boxing Championships in Dubai .
Mary Kom alongside Pooja Rani (75kg), Anupama (+81kg) and Lalbuatsahi (64kg) will fight in their respective final bouts on Sunday, Panghal, Shiva Thapa (64kg) and Sanjeet (91kg) will be seen in action on Monday.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has allocated USD 4,00,000 prize money for this Championships. The gold medallists of men’s and women’s categories will be awarded with USD 10,000 while both the silver and bronze medal winners will take home USD 5,000 and 2,500 respectively.
Aiming for the sixth gold medal in just seven appearances, the veteran Mary Kom will face a stiff challenge from the two-time world champion Kazakh boxer Nazym Kyzaibay in the 51kg final.
Another Olympic-bound Pooja Rani, who received a walk-over in the semi-finals, will clash with in-form Mavluda Movlonova of Uzbekistan, who ended the challenge of London Olympics medallist Marina Volnova in the last-4 stage.
Lalbuatsaihi and Anupama will also face strong Kazakh rivals in their respective finals.
In the men’s section, Panghal will be up against the Rio Olympics and world champion Uzbek pugilist Zoirov Shakhobidin of Uzbekistan in the gold medal match on Monday.
Assam boxer Thapa, will be challenged by the Asian Games silver medallist Mongolia’s Baatarsukh Chinzorig. Second seeded Sanjeet will take on the Rio Olympics silver medallist Vassiliy Levit, who is chasing his fourth gold medal of the Asian Championships.
Eight Indian pugilists Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Jaismine (57kg), Sakshi Chaudhary (64kg), Monika (48kg), Saweety (81kg) and Varinder Singh (60kg) secured bronze medals with their semi-final finish.