Former World Championship bronze medalist boxer Gaurav Bidhuri challenged the selection process for the upcoming trials in view of next year's Olympic qualifiers and is seeking the intervention of Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju in the matter. In a letter to the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and Sports Authority of India (SAI), Bidhuri said that he was improperly excluded from the trials on 29 and 30 December in Bellary, Karnataka.
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Bidhuri told PTI, "I am fed up with this unjust system. This year, World Championship medalists were directly admitted to the Olympic qualifiers. But when I won the world bronze medal in 2017, I was not allowed to play in Commonwealth and Asian Games trials. He said that at that time I was told that I did not participate in many competitions, this time I am being told that I did not face tough rivals. Can anyone explain to me what is the selection criteria here? It does not make sense. Gaurav is getting upset about this."
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Bidhuri wanted to participate in China's 57 kg trial for the qualifier to be held in February. Amit Panghal (52 kg) and Manish Kaushik (63 kg) were exempted from the trials. Kavinder Singh Bisht (World Championship quarterfinalist and Asian silver medalist), Commonwealth Games medalists Mohammad Hasamuddin and Gaurav Solanki and former World Youth Champion Sachin Sivach for the trials in the 57kg category based on the ranking points system Gone.