Rio 2016: Boxer Manoj Kumar and Vikas Krishnan qualifies, Mary Kom denied

Manoj Kumar and Vikas Krishnan qualifies for Rio Olympics. newsworldindia.in
Manoj Kumar and Vikas Krishnan qualifies for Rio Olympics. newsworldindia.in

Internet Desk: Vikas Krishan (75kg)and Manoj Kumar (64kg) today booked Olympic berths after advancing to the semifinals of the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) World Qualifying Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan.

While Manoj thrashed Tajikistan’s Rakhimov Shavkatdzhon, second seed Vikas got past Korea’s Lee Dongyun in the quarterfinals by a similar margin of 3-0.

Manoj will next face European champion Pat McCormack of Britain in the semifinal tomorrow. McCormack defeated Frenchman Amzile Hassan in his quarterfinal bout.

Vikas, on the other hand, will be up against Turkmenistan’s Achilov Arslanbek, who got past Italian Cavallaro Salvatore in his quarterfinal contest.

Vikas and Manoj took the total number of Indian boxers assured of Olympic berths to three as Shiva Thapa (56kg) had made the cut for Rio during the Asian Qualifiers in March.

National coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu described the duo’s performance today as dominating. Vikas, however, is a doubtful starter at tomorrow’s semifinal as he has sustained a cut on his face.

Both Vikas and Manoj had competed in the 2012 London Games as well. While Manoj had lost in the quarterfinals, Vikas was ousted in the preliminaries.

Meanwhile, Olympic medallist boxer Mary Kom will not be participating in the 2016 Rio Olympics, confirmed the AIBA (All India Boxing Association) ad-hoc committee on Wednesday.

The AIBA had earlier decided to seek a wild card entry route for Mary Kom in the Olympics, raising hopes of chancing back into the ring for the pugilist. But Kishen Narsi, AIBA ad-hoc committee chairman, said that due to India having more than eight boxers who had qualified in the London Olympics, the International Olympic Committee ruled out any chances of India’s wild card entry into the game.

“It is the decision made by the International Olympic Committee that nations which has not had more than eight boxers in the last two games will be granted the card. India had eight boxers in London itself with seven men and Mary Kom among the pugilists qualifying,” said Narsi.

Mary Kom, a celebrated champion in Indian women’s boxing, had secured a bronze medal in the last London Olympics. However, she failed to directly qualify for the Rio Olympics when she went down to her opponent in the qualification round.

“I have been duly informed that I won’t be getting the wild card for the Olympics. It is heartbreaking but it is something which I had no control over. I have to accept this decision but I am not quitting the sport right now. I will continue to compete till I am feeling fit and I think I am fit,” Mary Kom said in a statement.