India’s HPD Bernard Dunne confirms Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain’s qualification for the Asian Games 2023.

India’s High Performance Director (HPD), Bernard Dunne, has confirmed that boxers Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain have qualified for the Asian Games, which are also the first Olympic Qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Games. The Boxing Federation of India’s policy states that athletes who achieve Gold or Silver at World Championships will be automatically selected for the continental competition. This means that Nikhat (50kg) and Lovlina (75kg), who have reached the light flyweight and middleweight final of the ongoing World Championships respectively, have qualified for the Asian Games. Women pugilists will compete in five weight categories at the Asian Games: 51kg, 57kg, 60kg, 69kg, and 75kg. The Olympics will have six weight classes: 50kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, 66kg, and 75kg. The minimum weight (48kg) world champion Nitu Ghanghas and Saweety Boora (81kg), who has also reached the final, will be standby boxers should they decide to change to an Olympic weight class. The BFI has done away with the selection trials and created a new evaluation process in cooperation with Dunne. Boxers will have to undergo an evaluation process instead of selection trials. Dunne has been serving in the role for a few months now and feels he’s had to take some hard calls.