Image Credit: Twitter/BFI_official
On Saturday, May 22, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) took to Twitter to inform that the Indian boxing team landed safely in Dubai and set for the upcoming ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships. The tournament starts on Monday with the draws lined up for Sunday.
𝗧𝗢𝗨𝗖𝗛𝗗𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗗𝗨𝗕𝗔𝗜 🛬
🇮🇳 contingent has landed safely in Dubai earlier today and our boxers are all set for upcoming ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships 💪🏻#boxing#AsianEliteBoxingChampionships#StayHomeStaySafe pic.twitter.com/8DRVlUk81a
— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) May 22, 2021
Boxers including MC Mary Kom and Amit Panghal reached Dubai to clash in the Asian Boxing Championships in an “air-bubble” flight. They had to stay in mid-air longer than schedule as some administrative paperwork delayed its landing. As quoted by PTI, “There was some confusion regarding the approval letter for the trip which was eventually sorted thanks to the intervention of the Indian Embassy in the UAE. The flight took a while to land but the boxers have now reached their hotel.”
The tournament starts on Monday with the draws lined up for Sunday. It is the only major competition that the boxers will get before the July-August Olympics given the COVID-19 restrictions in place around the globe.
In a statement issued by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), BFI expressed his gratitude towards the Indian ambassador in UAE for their assistance but they hadn’t provided the details of what caused the delay in the flight’s landing.
“Indian contingent has landed in Dubai and reached the hotel. Two rounds of RT-PCR tests have been conducted — one at the airport and the other at the hotel. Indian team flew on SpiceJet flight under the air bubble agreement with all necessary and relevant permissions,” the statement read.
BFI also thanked the Asian Boxing Confederation(ASBC) and the UAE government for their help and support. “Boxing Federation of India is grateful to the Indian Embassy and Ambassador Mr. Pavan Kapoor for his help in ensuring the contingent’s participation at the 2021 ASBC Asian Championships. We are also thankful to the Asian Boxing Confederation and the UAE government,” it added.
The women’s team will be led by the indomitable MC Mary Kom along with three other Olympic-bound boxers Simranjit Kaur, Lovlina Borgohain, and Pooja Rani. And also two names from the men side missing are Manish Kaushik and Satish Kumar as both of them are currently recovering from COVID-19.