India assures four medals at boxing World Cup as positive COVID case detected in contingent

India assured four medals without a single blow being exchanged at Boxing World Cup after four pugilists will start their campaigns the in semifinals when draws were unveiled on Thursday. Four Indian men and five women are in action at the event taking place in Cologne, Germany. Following the three-day event, the team will return to the country, completing an over a month-long training-cum-competition stint in Europe.

Asian Games champion and world silver-medallist Amit Panghal (52kg) among men and Pooja Rani (75kg), Manisha (57kg) and Simranjeet Kaur (60kg) are the ones who have a sealed a place on the podium from the get-go. The Indian team faced fitness issues going into the tournament. Four-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa (63kg) and Sanjeet (91kg) forced to pull out of the tournament due to minor niggles.

Positive COVID case detected in contingent

To add to their woes, a positive COVID case was detected in the contigent. Luckily none of the boxers returned positive in a fresh round of testing. While the positive case stirred up some anxiety in the team, the draws muct have calmed any nerves.

“A physio, Rohit Kashyap, has tested positive for COVID-19 but the boxers are fine. They have been tested again and returned negative. The physio has been isolated and is doing alright,” a source in the Sports Authority of India (SAI) told PTI.

Panghal defeated Frenchman Billal Bennama 5-0 in the semifinal. Bennama is a bronze-medallist from the world championship where the Indian returned with a silver. Germany will be hosting Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine along with India for the World Cup.

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