New Delhi [India], July 25 : Olympic bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain and renowned Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen have been named in the 20-member Indian team for the World Boxing Championships 2025, which will be held in Liverpool, England, between September 4 and 14, according to Olympics.com.
After a week-long selection evaluation at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala, the team was chosen.
This will be the inaugural World Boxing Championships, held by the newly formed World Boxing, the international governing body for the sport. It will see boxers from all over the globe compete for medals in 20 divisions: 10 weight classes for men and as many for women.
The matches will follow the Olympic format. Nikhat will be seen in the 51 kg class, while Borgohain will compete in the women's 75 kg division.
The women's 80 kg division was also taken by Olympian Pooja Rani. However, Meenakshi Hooda won the women's 48kg category, and Nitu Ghanghas, the Commonwealth Games champion, failed to make the cut.
Both Borgohain and Zareen have won gold medals at World Championships before, but these were under the previous governing body.
The meet in Liverpool will also mark the return of the two Indian boxers to the Indian national setup for the first time since the Paris 2024 Olympics and their first World Boxing event.
India sent no female boxers to the inaugural World Cup held in Brazil, and neither of the two participated in the second tournament in Astana earlier this month. Both boxers also performed well at the Elite Women's Boxing Tournament in Hyderabad earlier this month, which earned them a spot in the national camp; however, they both failed to qualify for the nationals this year.
Asian Games bronze medallist Narender Berwal (90+kg), World Boxing Cup gold medallists Hitesh Gulia (70kg) and Abhinash Jamwal (65kg) are also in the 20-member shortlist.
Indian squad for World Boxing Championships 2025
Women's 48kg - Meenakshi Hooda
Women's 51kg - Nikhat Zareen
Women's 54kg - Sakshi
Women's 57kg - Jaismine Lamboria
Women's 60kg - Sanju Khatri
Women's 60kg - Neeraj Phogat
Women's 70kg - Sanamacha Chanu
Women's 75kg - Lovlina Borgohain
Women's 80kg - Pooja Rani
Women's 80+kg - Nupur Sheoran
Men's 50kg - Jadumani Singh Mandengbam
Men's 55kg - Pawan Bartwal
Men's 60kg - Sachin Siwach Jr
Men's 65kg - Abhinash Jamwal
Men's 70kg - Hitesh Gulia
Men's 75kg - Sumit Kundu
Men's 80kg - Lakshya Chahar
Men's 85kg - Jugnoo Ahlawat
Men's 90kg - Harsh Chaudhary
Men's 90+kg - Narender Berwal.