Indian Boxers Aim To Better Medal Count And Grab Olympic Berths

With the coveted Olympics berth up for grabs, the India boxers will step in the ring in Hangzhou with extra motivation, as they look to better the medal tally from the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. India have fielded a strong contingent led by two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen and Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain. In the men's section, the trio of world championship medallists -- the experienced Shiva Thapa, Deepak Bhoria and Nishant Dev -- will look to add an Asian Games medal to their kitty and secure their passage to Paris.

Olympic Qualifier - The Asian Games are the first Olympic qualifying event for boxers from the continent. There are a total of 34 quotas up for grabs across the 13 weight classes.

In the women's events, the semifinalists in the 50kg, 54kg, 57kg, and 60kg while the finalists in the 66kg and 75kg will qualify for the Paris Games.

The gold and silver medallists in each of the seven weight divisions in the men's event will receive quotas.

Women's chances - The women's events have doubled from three to six since the 2018 edition, where the Indian female pugilists returned empty handed.

However, alongside Zareen (50kg) and Lovlina (75kg), world championship bronze medallist Parveen Hooda (57kg), Commonwealth Games medallist Jaismine Lamboria (60kg) and Preeti Pawar have shown the stomach for fight.

Zareen has been in scintillating form for the past two years. However, she has been handed a tough draw as she opens her campaign against two-time Asian Champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam in a rematch of March's World Championships final.

She could potentially face two-time world bronze medallist Chuthamat Raksat of Thailand in the semifinals.

Lovlina is still learning the tricks of the trade in the