Winners could be losers too

Indian pugilists could land on the horns of dilemma, vis-a-vis the Beijing Games

There is more than one thing common among Som Bahadur Pun, A L Lakra and Manpreet. The trioka are Services boxers, already in the finals of the national championships here, and the best bets in their weight categories to win gold. The other commonality is that they are also considered the best to get medals in the forthcoming World Military Games WMG in Hyderabad.

There lies the hitch for both, the armed forces and the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation.

By winning gold in the national meet they automatically qualify for the World Championships, beginning October 23 in Chicago 8212; the first qualifiers for the Beijing Olympics. But if the authorities decide that they have to compete in the WMG in order to swell the hosts8217; kitty, their places for the US world meet could go to the eventual losers tomorrow.

The argument advanced by Services team manager Captain Manoj Kumar was that they could always compete in the second or third qualifiers later. There is a problem, though. In case their replacement at the world meet go on to win a quarter final berth, they qualify for the Beijing Games. In other words, the country8217;s three best boxers 8212; the gold medal winners at the nationals 8212; will not get a second chance as only one pugilist per weight category is entered in Beijing.

This is a classic case of how winners could also be losers.

Admitting there was, indeed, a problem, IABF secretary-general Col PK Muralidharan Raja said he was in a predicament of sorts in the light of a decision taken at the highest level in the armed forces.

8220;I am awaiting a written communication from the Army Sports Control Board. I have already written to the world body requesting time until August 31 to send in entries since our selection is based on the national meet. As announced earlier, only the gold medal winners will go to Chicago. However, if ASCB pulls out a winner or two for the WMG then we will opt for the losers,8221; he said.

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Raja, however, wished that the best boxers should represent the country both at the world meet and in Beijing. 8220;Yes, it will be a loss both to us and the boxers concerned if by any chance they don8217;t get a second opportunity to qualify for the Olympics.8221;