NEW DELHI: In yet another bizarre twist to India’s Asian Games boxing selection, Sumit Kundu has retained his place in the men’s 70kg squad despite losing a fresh trial to Deepak Punia, who has now been relegated to reserve.The sports ministry’s final Indian contingent list has named Kundu in the 11-member boxing team — six men and five women — effectively overriding the outcome of the Boxing Federation of India’s (BFI) closed-door trials at NIS Patiala on August 17.The development raises an obvious question: if Kundu was always going to remain the first-choice boxer, why was the fresh trial conducted in the first place?The BFI had originally finalised its Glasgow CWG and Aichi-Nagoya Asiad squads following trials at NIS Patiala on May 13-15. The decision to reopen three categories — men’s 70kg and 90kg, and women’s 65kg — came after recommendations from the high-performance unit, support staff and selection committee.Kundu, who had been originally selected, lost to reserve Punia in the 70kg bout and was replaced. The trial minutes stated that the winner would be Rank 1 for the Asiad, while the loser would remain reserve. However, they also carried a caveat that if the ministry and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) did not accept the revised entries, the boxers who had represented India at the CWG would retain their Asiad berths.That is precisely what has happened. Kapil Pokhariya retained his 90kg place after beating Harsh Choudhary, while Parveen Hooda stayed in the women’s 65kg category after defeating Saneh.BFI sources said the trials were necessitated to identify India’s best medal prospects after the trio failed to win medals at the CWG. Kundu lost 1-4 to Northern Ireland’s Jon McConnell in the pre-quarters in Glasgow.But the process has left both Kundu and Punia paying the price. Sources said Sumit was around 75-76kg before the trial, making repeated weight cuts particularly demanding. After preparing for the CWG and August 17 trial, he must again cut weight for the Asiad, leaving his body completely drained.It has been learnt that the boxing contingent is scheduled to leave India on September 4 for a pre-Games training camp in Japan before travelling directly to the Games.
