New Delhi, Feb 22 (PTI) Rio Olympics gold medallist Estelle Mossely and Tokyo Games silver winner Nesthy Petecio will be among several top pugilists participating in the Women’s World Boxing Championships from March 15 to 26 here.
Seven Olympic medallists are among 350 boxers from 74 countries who have so far registered their names for the biennial showpiece, to be held at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex. Out of the seven Olympic medallists, three are from Tokyo Games.
“It is an honour for India and the BFI to host the prestigious IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. We are hosting it for the third time but this time the tournament will touch an unprecedented high mark,” Boxing Federation of India (BFI) president Ajay Singh said.
“We have already received registration from 74 countries so far, bigger than any previous editions. The BFI is all set to conduct an event of such magnitude and we are certain that the world will witness the best ever congregation of boxers.” Singh said this championships is set to be bigger than the last edition in terms of number of participants.
“The last World Championship saw participation of 310 boxers. In this edition, we already have more than 350 registrations. With more than a week remaining, I am confident that some more nations and boxers will look to come to this edition of the Championship.” The closing date for registration is February 25.
Petecio won a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics and she became the first ever boxer from the Philippines to win a medal at the Games. The 2019 world champion will compete in the featherweight (57kg) category.
Beatriz Iasmin Ferreira (60kg) of Brazil and Qian Li (75kg) of China are also silver medallists in the Tokyo Olympics.
Japanese Tsukimi Namiki and Colombian Ingrit Lorena Valencia in the flyweight (51kg) category will be eager to maintain their performance at the World Championships.
Irma Testa, a bronze medal winner from the Tokyo Olympics, is also a strong medal contender in the featherweight (57kg) category. The Italian boxer has plenty of experience coming into the global meet.
Countries like the USA, Britain, Canada, Ireland and Czech Republic have decided not to send their pugilist for the tournament, citing various reasons including “ongoing failures” of the IBA, the sport’s international governing body, that put boxing’s place on the Olympic programme at risk.
Source: PTI News
