Bernard Dunne, India’s high performance director for boxing, has stepped down following the team’s dismal performance at the Olympic qualifiers in Italy, where they failed to secure any Paris Olympics quotas. Dunne has sent his resignation to the Boxing Federation of India.
Dunne, who replaced Santiago Nieva as High Performance director, joined the Indian team in October 2022 and had a controversial stint.
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Indian Boxers Disappoint in Busto Arsizio Tournament
Six men and two women boxers crashed out in opening rounds of the tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy. Only Nishant Dev in 71kg won three bouts and bowed out in the quarter-finals, a round before the prized Olympic quota.
The performance of the male boxers has been very poor. India have failed to win any Paris Olympics quota in seven weight divisions so far from two events — Asian Games and the world qualification tournament. Among the women, four boxers have booked Paris berths from the Asian Games — Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain, Preeti Saipawar and Parveen Hooda. The focus is now on the last qualifying event for the Paris Olympics in Bangkok from May 23.
Bernard Dunne was already facing the heat with India’s dismal performance in the Olympic year and the BFI and Sports Authority of India officials had a review meeting on Wednesday. Nine boxers, five men and four women, had qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with Lovlina Borgohain winning a bronze. It is unlikely that so many boxers will make it to the Paris Olympics.
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