Internet Desk: Two-time medalist L Devendro Singh has not been included in the Indian squad for the forthcoming Asian Championships which will be held from April 30 to May 07 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Although Devendro missed the cut, World bronze-medalists Shiva Thapa (60kg) and Vikas Krishan (75kg), along with former Commonwealth gold-medalist Manoj Kumar (69kg), found favours with the selectors.
Former Asian Olympic qualifiers’ gold-medalist Sumit Sangwan will be making a comeback into the national squad. Sangwan last competed in the 2016 Rio Games qualifiers in June having jumped from light heavyweight (81kg) to heavyweight (91kg) and this would be his first competitive outing in the new weight category.
Sangwan was forced to skip the National Championships in December last year after sustaining a cut above his eye during the trials.
The rookies in the team include Asian youth silver-winner Ashish Kumar (64kg) and Kavinder Singh (52kg), who managed to upstage Devendro in the trials. Both the boxers will be making their senior international debut in Tashkent.
Kavinder and Ashish were quarter-finalists at the National Championships, where the former had been forced to give a walkover after injuring himself in the pre-quarters.
Ashish is the cousin of former Commonwealth Games and Asian bronze-medallist Jai Bhagwan.
Devendro, on the other hand, is in the reserves for the big event, before which the team will travel to Kazakhstan for a training trip starting tentatively fromApril 15.
The Manipur-lad had won silver in 2013 and a bronze in the 2015 Asian Championships.
Also in the reserves is K Shyam Kumar (49kg), who won a gold medal at the recent Thailand International Tournament.
The Asian Championships will have 60 qualifying spots (the top six in each weight category) for the world event scheduled in Hamburg, Germany from August 25.
India’s last gold medal at the Asian meet had come in 2013 through Shiva, when he was competing in the bantamweight division.
The Squad: Amit Panghal (49kg), Kavinder Singh (52kg), Gaurav Bidhuri (56kg), Shiva Thapa (60kg), Ashish Kumar (64kg), Manoj Kumar (69kg), Vikas Krishan (75kg), Manish Panwar (81kg), Sumit Sangwan (91kg), Satish Kumar (+91kg).