BFI contradicts HPD’s claim, will form committee to finalise selection criteria | Boxing News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: Contrary to claims made by Indian boxing’s high-performance director (HPD) Bernard Dunne that he has done away with the selection trials and that the ‘evaluation test’ of boxers at the national camps will be the way forward, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) on Tuesday informed that no such decision has been approved by its selection committee and that they would continue with the practice of holding trials, if need be.
According to multiple sources in the BFI, at the federation’s annual general meeting (AGM) held in Ghaziabad on March 25, it was decided to form a committee to finalise selection procedure for future championships – including holding of the trials – and to look at the proposal submitted by Dunne, where the HPD has called for an evaluation test every week to decide the rankings of boxers. It’s been learnt that Dunne has already picked the team in 13 weight categories for the men’s World Championships in Tashkent from May 1 to 14, based on his own assessment process.
Sources told TOI that Bernard made the statement to the media in an individual capacity, without taking into confidence the BFI. The issue was later raised at the AGM.
“The committee will have senior members from the BFI and its selection committee. It will deliberate on Bernard’s proposal for an evaluation test of boxers. The committee will have the mandate to decide whether to continue holding the trials or accept HPD’s proposal,” the source said.
“So far, nothing has been finalised and the HPD made the statement in a personal capacity. Some of our women boxers had gone to the court ahead of the Worlds challenging the evaluation test. The BFI doesn’t want to face such a situation in the future. When a committee has been formed by the BFI, how can Bernard go ahead and say that he will continue with the evaluation test and will hold no selection trials? With the evaluation test, you might go overboard with the training methods and unnecessarily put pressure on boxers. The BFI will make an announcement in this regard soon. It’s the federation’s prerogative to take a call on selection matters,” another source added.
Bernard had also mentioned during his press interaction that Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain will be India’s direct entry for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, which will also act as the first Olympic qualifier for Paris Olympics 2024. According to the BFI’s selection policy, “boxers who achieve gold/silver at World Championships will be an automatic selection for the first Olympic qualifier at the Asian Games. Trials will be held for any remaining weight categories.”
However, sources informed that the call to send Nikhat and Lovlina to the Asiad based on their Worlds performance will be taken up by the BFI, based on the recommendations of the committee and after the finalisation of the selection criteria. “The policy uploaded on the BFI’s website hasn’t been approved by the general house members. It’s not the final version.”
According to multiple sources in the BFI, at the federation’s annual general meeting (AGM) held in Ghaziabad on March 25, it was decided to form a committee to finalise selection procedure for future championships – including holding of the trials – and to look at the proposal submitted by Dunne, where the HPD has called for an evaluation test every week to decide the rankings of boxers. It’s been learnt that Dunne has already picked the team in 13 weight categories for the men’s World Championships in Tashkent from May 1 to 14, based on his own assessment process.
Sources told TOI that Bernard made the statement to the media in an individual capacity, without taking into confidence the BFI. The issue was later raised at the AGM.
“The committee will have senior members from the BFI and its selection committee. It will deliberate on Bernard’s proposal for an evaluation test of boxers. The committee will have the mandate to decide whether to continue holding the trials or accept HPD’s proposal,” the source said.
“So far, nothing has been finalised and the HPD made the statement in a personal capacity. Some of our women boxers had gone to the court ahead of the Worlds challenging the evaluation test. The BFI doesn’t want to face such a situation in the future. When a committee has been formed by the BFI, how can Bernard go ahead and say that he will continue with the evaluation test and will hold no selection trials? With the evaluation test, you might go overboard with the training methods and unnecessarily put pressure on boxers. The BFI will make an announcement in this regard soon. It’s the federation’s prerogative to take a call on selection matters,” another source added.
Bernard had also mentioned during his press interaction that Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain will be India’s direct entry for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, which will also act as the first Olympic qualifier for Paris Olympics 2024. According to the BFI’s selection policy, “boxers who achieve gold/silver at World Championships will be an automatic selection for the first Olympic qualifier at the Asian Games. Trials will be held for any remaining weight categories.”
However, sources informed that the call to send Nikhat and Lovlina to the Asiad based on their Worlds performance will be taken up by the BFI, based on the recommendations of the committee and after the finalisation of the selection criteria. “The policy uploaded on the BFI’s website hasn’t been approved by the general house members. It’s not the final version.”
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