Mary Kom to skip World Championships and Asian Games to make way for youngsters

PTI, Mar 6, 2022, 4:13 PM IST

New Delhi: Olympic bronze medallist boxer MC Mary Kom has decided to skip the World Championships and the Asian Games to be held later this year to give more exposure to youngsters.

The six-time world champion wants to focus on her preparations for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

The IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships are scheduled to be held from May 6 to 21 in Istanbul, Turkey while the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2022 Asian Games will begin on July 28 and September 10 respectively.

In a communication to the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), Mary Kom said, ”I would like to withdraw to allow the younger generation to make a name for themselves on the international stage and get exposure and experience of major tournaments. I would like to focus on the preparation for the Commonwealth Games only.” The selection trials for all 12 categories of the world championships will start from Monday and will end on Wednesday. The trials will also include Asian Games weights divisions, which are the same as IBA. However, for the remaining two Asian Games weight categories, 51kg, and 69kg, trials will be conducted separately from March 11-14 thereby giving more time to boxers of closest weight categories to also take a shot at the trials for the Asian Games.

”Mary Kom has been the torchbearer for Indian boxing for the last two decades and has inspired countless boxers and sportspersons across the world. We completely respect her decision and it is a testimony of her champion character to make way for the other boxers,” BFI president Ajay Singh said in a statement.

”We are delighted that we have such a good bench strength and are looking forward to the younger generation to make the nation proud and I hope and wish Mary all the best with her preparations for the CWG,” he added.

National campers, including the participants of the Tokyo Olympics, who didn’t compete in the National Championships, will be eligible for the selection trials.

The selection committee, comprising the BFI president or his nominee alongside an expert panel of reputed veteran boxers, will ensure smooth conduct of the trials as all the bouts will be video recorded.

The Asian Games selection trials for men will be held in May, while, for the Commonwealth Games, trials for both men and women will be conducted in June.

Weight categories: Women- 12 main weight categories IBA World Championship: 48 kg, 50 kg, 52 kg, 54 kg, 57 kg, 60 kg, 63 kg, 66 kg, 70 kg, 75 kg, 81 kg, +81kg Asian Games: 51 kg, 57 kg, 60 kg, 69 kg, 75 kg.

Men: Asian Games: 52 kg, 57 kg, 63 kg, 69 kg, 75 kg, 81 kg, 91 kg, +91 kg.