The postponed Asian Boxing Championship, which India is scheduled to host, will be organised in either April or May this year, Boxing Federation of India President Ajay Singh revealed on Wednesday after being re-elected to the post at the body’s Annual General Meeting. The championship was to be originally held in November-December last year, but was postponed owing to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Asian Championship will either be held in April or May,” Singh said in a press conference after the AGM at a Gurugram hotel. 

India last hosted the men’s Asian meet back in 1980 in Mumbai, before conducting the women’s event in 2003 in Hisar. The tournament became a combined event for men and women last year. 

The COVID-19 pandemic threw sporting calendars haywire around the world with several big events, including the Olympics and the T20 World Cup of cricket, postponed. Asked whether the national championships would be held after the pandemic did not allow the event to go ahead in 2020, Singh said, “It is work in progress.” 

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So far, nine Indian boxers — five men and four women — have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics and Singh said they will get enough exposure to ensure their preparations remain on track. 

“They trained in Italy last year for two months and then they will also compete in the world qualifiers in June. There will be no shortage of competition for them,” Singh said.