NEW DELHI, July 21 (PTI): Commonwealth Games gold medallist Paramjeet Samota will lead a 10-member Indian team in the Asian Confederation Boxing Championships to be held at Incheon, South Korea from August 3 to 13.
A bronze medallist in 2010 Asian Games, Somota will be accompanied by CWG bronze medallists Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and Amandeep Singh (49kg), while in Bantam Weight it would be Shiva Thapa who will lead the charge.
However, India will miss Beijing Olympics bronze medallist Vijender Singh, who won a bronze in the previous edition and a silver in 2007. National champion Kuldeep Singh will take the middleweight boxer. Fly weight boxer Santosh Harijan, who caught everyone�s eye during the Indian team�s recent campaign at the Giraldo Cordova Cardin memorial boxing tournament, winning the bronze in Cuba, will be a part of the competition.
Among others, Balwinder Beniwal and Mandeep Singh Jangra will lead Indian challenge in the Light Welter Weight and Welter Weight category. Also in the ranks would be Arun Hooda (+91kg) and Dinesh Kumar (81kg).
The biennial event will be a good testing ground for the big-ticket tourneys coming up later this year. Incheon would also be hosting the 17th Asian Games in 2014 and will allow the participating nations to get better acquainted with the climatic conditions. Coach Jaidev Bisht believes it will be a good opportunity to access the level of competition that Asia offers, although he thinks with the World Championships nearing, not all countries would be willing to send their top players.
