The 53rd Senior National Boxing Championships: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR THE 53RD SENIOR NATIONAL...

The country's biggest boxing event is now on in town. The best part is, an Indian will certainly win this. Anything to console us.

Hyderabad is playing host to the 53rd Senior National Boxing Championships from the 18th to 24th March. More than 350 boxers from all over the country are participating in the week-long championships at the Swarnandhra Pradesh Indoor Stadium, Gachibowli.

Organised by the All-India Boxing Federation, the boxers will be competing in the light flyweight, flyweight, bantam weight, feather weight, light welter weight, welter weight, middle weight, light heavy weight and heavy weight categories. Reigning champions Services, last year runner-up Railways, Punjab, Haryana, Indian Police, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Assam Rifles, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, Puducherry, Uttarakhand, Steel Plant, Jharkhand, Tripura, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Karnataka, Gujarat and West Bengal are the teams taking part in this championships.

Some of the top boxers of the country, like Asian Games bronze medalist Virendra Singh of Railways, V Johnson of the Services and Mohd. Ali Qamar of Uttar Pradesh are competing for individual honors. In the team category, Services is aiming to rule the ring, fielding some top ranking boxers. Top individual boxers at the meet will make it to the Indian team which will take part in 3 international tournaments, with the gold and silver medalists of these three tournaments qualifying for the Athens Olympics.

Starting with these championships, a new rule is being implemented by the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation as per new international boxing rules. A boxer who retires midway through his fight will be declared the loser even if he is leading. In the past, boxers used to feign injury and opted to retire when they were leading and the opponent was launching a fierce comeback.

Another new rule which is to be implemented at the 7-day meet pertains to the referee's count during knockouts. In the past, the referee had to stop the count once the time-bell rang. This favored boxers who got knocked out moments before the end of the round. The new rule empowers the referee to go ahead with his counting even after the bell rings at the end of the round.

For further details, please contact B D Manmohan at 2780-5760.