Mary Kom, Lovlina in Indian women's boxing squad for Asian Championships

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New Delhi, April 7: Olympic-bound six-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) will spearhead the Indian women's challenge in the Asian Boxing Championship slated to be held here from May 21 to 31.

Mary Kom is a six-time Asian medallist, including five gold medals. She had opted out of the previous edition of the event in 2019. She recently won a bronze medal at a tournament in Spain, her first competitive outing since qualifying for the Olympics a year ago.

Another prominent name in the team for the continental showpiece is two-time world bronze-winner Lovlina Borgohain (69kg). The Assam boxer is also bound for the Olympic Games.

Simranjit Kaur (60kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg) are the other Tokyo-qualified boxers in the squad. Kaur had claimed a silver medal in the previous edition of the championship, which was held in Bangkok.

Rani, on the other hand, would be aiming to add a second successive Asian gold to her kitty. She won the top honours in 2019 in the 81kg division. Rookie Jasmine (57kg), who clinched a gold medal in her maiden international competitive outing last month in Spain, has got the nod ahead of the more experienced Manisha, who was a bronze-winner at the 2019 Asian meet.

Jasmine defeated Manisha in the selection trials. Also in the squad is former junior world champion Sakshi.

The Team: Monika (48kg), Mary Kom (51kg), Sakshi (54kg), Jasmine (57kg), Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Pwilao Basumatary (64kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Pooja Rani (75kg), Saweety (81kg), Anupma (+81kg).