NEW DELHI - A controversy has broken out over MC Mary Kom's selection for the women's World Boxing Championships, with Nikhat Zareen, who shares her weight category, claiming she has been denied a trial bout as per the norms.
Mary Kom (51kg category) and Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) have been selected for the competition based on their recent performances. Six-time world champion Mary Kom has won two gold medals this year -- India Open and a recent tournament in Indonesia.
The 23-year-old Zareen, who won a silver at a tournament in Thailand recently, was hoping to challenge Mary Kom in the 51kg trials. In a letter to the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), Zareen alleged that she was "stopped from competing" in a scheduled trial bout on Tuesday against Vanlal Duati by chairman of selectors Rajesh Bhandari.
Bhandari said the decision to select Mary Kom had been taken days earlier in consultation with the BFI top brass. "We got a representation from Mary Kom's coach [Chhotelal Yadav] and after considering it, we felt that Mary Kom had done enough to merit selection without trials," Bhandari told PTI. "The BFI has been consulted on this matter. She beat Nikhat in the India Open [semi-finals] and is consistently better than others in the national camp as well."
Bhandari said Zareen was also a brilliant boxer and would have her chances in the future. "But right now, it's a call based purely on performance and experience," he said.
In her letter, Zareen, who is a former junior world champion and an Asian bronze medallist, said, "To my utter surprise and disappointment, I was informed just before the bouts were supposed to start by the chairman, Selection Committee, Mr Rajesh Bhandari, that my bout will not happen today and there are some internal discussions happening to ensure I'm protected for [the] future and avoid getting exposed at a young age...," she wrote. "I'm really surprised by this action as I have already participated in the World Championships in 2016 and if I was fine then, so in 2019, I surely cannot be young and this cannot be the reason."
Zareen called on the BFI to hold trials, which will continue for other weight categories until Thursday.
"I only request that a fair trial should happen for all boxers under your leadership," she said. "If there is a rule for all of us, it needs to be consistent for all of us irrespective of [the] stature [of] a particular boxer."
Bhandari said the "carefully thought-out decision" to pick Mary Kom was taken keeping India's medal prospects in mind. "We have to give priority to India's medal chances and it is our unanimous belief that at this point Mary Kom is our strongest bet in this category," he said.
The World Championships will held in Russia from October 3 to 13.