Indian boxers to embark on a month-long training camp in Germany ahead of 2024 Paris Olympics

Indian boxers Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain, Nishant Dev, Preeti Pawar and Jaismine Lamboria will embark on a one-month long training camp in Germany to hone their skills ahead of the prestigious 2024 Paris Olympics.

Only Amit Panghal will train at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Centre in Shilaroo, Himachal Pradesh, with his coaches and support staff. Panghal will later join the rest of the Indian squad in Paris closer to the Olympics.

The five Indian boxers will train at the Olympic Centre in Saarbrucken, Germany, for one month starting June 28. The training camp is organised to help the pugilists acclimatise ahead of the Summer Games.

Six Indian boxers—two men and four women—have qualified for the Paris Olympics and will head to Paris on July 22.

World champion Zareen (50kg), 2023 World Championships bronze medalist Nishant (71kg), Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Lovlina (75kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg) and Jaismine (57kg) will train alongside the national squads of Ireland, the USA, Mongolia, Germany and Denmark, among others.

Hemanta Kumar Kalita, the secretary general of the Boxing Federation of India, said the opportunity to spar with players from different countries will help them in their endeavours to win an Olympic medal. “The training camp in Saarbrucken will not just provide the Indian contingent an opportunity to spar with quality boxers from different countries, it will also help them acclimatise well before the Olympics as the weather conditions in Germany are similar to the ones they will encounter in Paris,” Kalita said.

India has won three bronze medals in the Olympics, with Vijender Singh winning India’s first boxing medal in 2008. Mary Kom won the bronze medal four years later in London and Lovlina Borgohain won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

If Lovlina manages to finish on the podium in Paris, she will become only the third Indian and the second woman from India after PV Sindhu to win two consecutive Olympic medals. Sindhu won the silver medal in Rio de Janeiro and the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

The Indian boxers’ one-month long training and exposure camp in Germany is supported by REC Limited, a leading Maharatna Company, under the Ministry of Power.