Assam Amateur Boxing Association felicitate medal winning boxers

Our Sports Reporter

GUWAHATI: A unique and a very rare scene. Three star boxers of the country today came on a single dais and shared their views on various aspects of their career and future plans. The event was held in a city hotel.

Assam Amateur Boxing Association (AABA) today felicitated three of its boxers- Lovlina Borgohain, Shiva Thapa and Ankushita Boro- for their medal winning performance in the recently concluded Asian Boxing Championship. While Lovlina won gold in the tournament, Shiva and Ankushita collected silver and bronze medals respectively.

The trios were found in a very jubilant mood during the function. Shiva, who collected a record sixth medal in the Asian Boxing Championship, addressing the gathering said, "It's nice to be here. Assam Amateur Boxing Association always provides us with good support and we are thankful to them."

Its nearly a decade that Shiva is in the senior circuit and during his long career the boxer collected medals from almost all the major championships. However an Olympic medal still eluded him. Mentioning it in his speech the ace boxer said, " I am working hard to achieve it in the next Olympics. Perhaps Lovlina and Ankushita also set similar targets. Today we make a commitment that we will give our best to bring medals from Paris."

Lovlina, who missed a medal in the Commonwealth Games, made a good comeback in her last international meet. In a brief speech the boxer said that she had changed her weight category and it took a little time to adjust."

The Olympic medallist also appreciates the role played by the Boxing Federation of India to promote Indian boxing. She said,"We would like to thank Hemanta Kalita (BFI secretary general) for his role in providing us the platform and the facilities."

Ankushita, who joined the senior category recently, made an exceptional performance in the recently concluded National Games before she won a bronze in the Asian Boxing Championship. In a brief speech the boxer said, " I am happy with my performance. Asian Boxing Championship helped me to gather a lot of experience and I hope it will guide me to do better in the coming international meets."

The felicitation function was also attended by Atul Bora, Minister, Agriculture etc, the secretary general of the Boxing Federation of India Hemanta Kalita, the secretary of the Assam Olympic Association Lakhya Konwaar, Director of the Sports and Youth Welfare Nibedan Das Patowary, Prag News CMD Sanjiv Narayan and the president of the Assam Amateur Boxing Association Kamal Gayari.

Kalita also addressed the gathering where he mentioned that India will host the next World Championship Boxing next year. "We have planned to host the event in Delhi and I am optimistic that shiva, Lovlina and Ankushita will come out with flying colour in the championship."

Two national coaches Tridip Bora and Sunder Singh Gariya were also feted on the occasion.

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