New Delhi: The selection of the Indian boxing teams for the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games will be based on trials after the controversial assessment system was scrapped. The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) announced on Tuesday that the new selection process will be the basis for the selection, to take place from Wednesday to Friday.
The process was revised after the Sports Authority of India (SAI) did not approve of the assessment system in the wake of concerns raised by several boxers who alleged a lack of transparency and fairness in the process.
The proposed changes were reported by HT on Monday. After the selection of teams for the Asian Championships, boxers such as Jyoti Gulia and Neeraj Phogat had contacted SAI, raising doubts over the process.
The evaluation system in boxing to select teams was brought in by the former High Performance Director Bernard Dunne in 2023. Boxers in the national camp were assessed and ranked on various parameters like sparring, strength and conditioning, weight management, etc. in a two-week span. It replaced the then system of selection trials, which BFI continued with despite the resignation of Irishman Dunne.
BFI secretary general Pramod Kumar announced the new “assessment methodology” following discussions between the head coaches and Target Olympic Podium Scheme officials on Monday.
“The selection of boxers for the CWG, Asian Games, and other international competitions shall be conducted from 13th May to 15th May of the ongoing elite national campers at NS NIS Patiala. A revised evaluation system based on sparring performance shall be adopted in place of the existing assessment methodology,” Kumar said in the BFI notification.
BFI had done strength and conditioning tests on the boxers on Sunday, which will now be discarded. “The scores obtained earlier in the sports science tests, weight management, health management and attendance shall stand withdrawn and shall be treated as null and void,” BFI said.
It also said the “marking system followed previously shall not be applicable for the present assessment.”
A five-judge scoring system will be used for all sparring bouts to ensure “greater transparency and fairness”. BFI said scores shall be announced immediately after each bout in line with the procedure followed during competitions. A total of 12 Referees and Judges shall be engaged in the evaluation process.
Women’s team coach Santiago Nieva and men’s coach CA Kuttappa will be part of the selection process. Campers will be given 1% weight allowance for sparring.
However, the finalists of the 2nd COAS Cup will not be able to participate in the trials. As per BFI, they qualified for the trials but SAI objected saying it was a closed event and did not follow the Sports Ministry guidelines. Nine boxers from the COAS Cup met TOPS officials on Monday. It is learnt that SAI had given a choice to BFI that in case they want to include these medallists they can hold an open trials, also inviting two-three top boxers from every state. There was no time to hold such an open trial.
