Mumbai, July 07: A five-member Indian team, along with two coaches, left on Tuesday from Delhi to take part in an international women’s boxing tournament at St. Petersberg in Russia from Wednesday.
Asian champion Kalpana Choudhary (48 kg) of Assam, who is also a bronze medal winner in the 2005 world championship, would lead the Indian challenge in the tournament, which concludes on July 11, a media release from the Indian Boxing Federation said on Tuesday.
The other members of the team are: Chhoto Laura (51 kg/Haryana/Railways), a bronze medallist at the 2008 World Championship in Ningbo, China; Sushma Kumari (54 kg/Haryana/Railways), who won a silver at the 2003 Asian championship and is an eight-time national champion; Laxmi Padhya (75 kg/Jharkhand/Police); N Sangeeta Devi (81kg/Manipur/Police).
Coaches: B.C. Bhatt (SAI coach, Sonepat) and Jaivir Singh (SAI, Bhopal).
The tournament assumes added importance as women’s boxing is likely to make its debut at the London Olympic Games in 2012 and is to be held for the first time at the Indoor Asian Games in Vietnam from October 30-November 8, the release added.
–PTI