MC Mary Kom, the London Olympics bronze medallist and Asian Games gold medallist along with L Sarita Devi and Pooja Rani eye Olympic berths. In her opening bout at the World Women's Boxing Championship, five-time champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) will take on Sweden's Juliana. Sarita (60 kg) is up against Belarus's Ala Yarshevich. If she wins the contest, the Manipuri will square off against Mexico's Victoria Torres. Pooja (75 kg), on the other hand, received a first-round bye and will square off against Ukraine's Mariya Borusta on May 20.
The event shall take place in Astana, Kazakhstan and is the final qualifying tournament for women boxers in the 51kg, 60kg and 75kg Olympic categories. This event has 12 Rio tickets to offer. The Olympic category draw features 49 and 47 boxers in the 51kg and 60kg divisions respectively, while the 75kg category has 34 boxers.
In the 54kg division, former junior World champion Nikhat Zareen will be against Australia's Bianca El-Mir in her opening round on May 20. Pavitra (64kg), will take up the winner of the bout between Australian Skye Nicolson and Croat Antonija Pavic.The third Indian to be seeded is Saweety (81kg). The second seed will face Belarus's Victoriya Kebikava.Sonia Lather (57kg) has to contend with Mongolia's Gundegmaa Myagmar, while Meena Rani (69kg) is up against Germany's Nadine Apetz.In the 81kg-plus category, Seema Poonia will square off against Azerbaijan's Aynur Rzayeva on May 23.