New Delhi: Indian boxers hoping to get picked for the Commonwealth Games will have to compete in the National Championship, the Federation said after its Executive Board meeting on Tuesday.
The Indian Boxing Federation said barring a few exceptional cases, only the participants of the Nationals would be eligible for the trials of the Commonwealth Games.
The decision means that stars like Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh (75kg), Commonwealth Games gold medallist Akhil Kumar (57kg), Commonwealth champions Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and Dinesh Kumar (81kg) will have to take the ring at the Nationals scheduled in July if they want to compete in the Commonwealth Games.
"All the (44) boxers in the core group of Commonwealth Games will have to participate in the National Championship.
Participation is compulsory and unless somebody is medically unfit, there would be no relaxation," IBF Secretary General P K Muralidharan Raja told reporters here.
"It's not that you have to win a medal in the Nationals to be eligible for CWG trials but participation is compulsory," he added.
The Commonwealth Games are scheduled from October 3 to 14 and Raja said the team would be finalised a month ahead of the mega event.
"By September first week, there would be a selection trial and the team would be picked. The boxers' performance at the ongoing national camps would also be taken into account," he added.
The Nationals would feature the new weight categories approved by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) last year.
This means, light fly weight now stands at 49kg and fly weight at 52 kg -- both the categories going up a kilogram each.
With the feather weight category abolished, the bantam weight has been revised from 54kg to 56kg.
The new bantam weight creates a clash among boxers in the same departmental teams. For instance, South Asian Games gold medallist Chhote Lal Yadav and S Santhosh both come from the Services team, which will now have to pick among the two.
Similarly, Akhil and his prodigy Jitender Kumar now fall in the bantam weight division and they are both employed with the All India Police.
Given the clash, the IBF said those who did not make the cut in their departmental teams will still have a chance to take part in the trials.
"In such a scenario the department will take the pick, the boxer can't help it. So he will be allowed to take part in the trials," said Col Raja. .
IBF's diktat is an attempt to ensure the participation of top stars in the elite event.
Vijender has not competed in the Nationals for the past two years and Akhil has skipped the tournament since 2003.
Apart from being eligible for the CWG trials, the boxers will also get prize money for each bout won at this year's Nationals.
"Every preliminary win would fetch a boxer Rs 500 and the money would go up from the quarterfinal onwards," Raja said.
With a marketing partner on board in Percept, Raja said it would be easier to organise the tournament professionally.
"We will give the boxers basic hotel accommodation and ensure that the tournament is conducted properly. We have a kit sponsor now which is also willing to back the Nationals and other events, so it makes our job slightly easier," he said.
The IBF, which had in the past struggled to get office space, is also planning to bring up a 'Boxing Bhawan' in the next couple of years here.
"We will identify land in the city and we will take the government's help in this. Roughly the idea is to have our office there and a ring so that the boxers who come to Delhi before any national tournament can do some light training," he said.
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