Ace Indian boxer MC Mary Kom on Wednesday said that boxers who have proven their potential by regularly performing at International Competitions should not be asked to participate in the trials. She also added that she had done nothing wrong by asking for an exemption for the trials of the World Championships.
Notably, a controversy had broken out concerning Mary Kom’s selection in the Women’s World Boxing Championships scheduled to happen in Russia. Her rival in the 51 Kg category, Nikhat Zareen, was denied a trial bout. She had then written a letter to the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) alleging that she had been stopped from participating in the trial despite having a scheduled trial bout.
It is worth highlighting here that Mary Kom has been a six-time world champion and even has an Olympic bronze medal to her credit. She was hence chosen by the BFI selection panel because of her proven track record. She had recently also won a gold medal at the India Open and followed it up with another gold in a tournament in Indonesia.
“Maybe, the BFI can change the programme altogether, no trial for boxers who are performing well, they can directly get the quota for any championship or the tournament,” Mary Kom told reporters on the sidelines of an event arranged by the All India Gaming Federation.
The world championship tournament is scheduled in the months of September and October in Russia.
“You look at other games like badminton, who gives trials? Did Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu give any trial?” she added.
“I felt weird about my decision but I had told BFI clearly you decide who is doing better. If I have to give a trial or not is not in my hands. The BFI decides all these things, it’s up to them” she said.
Soon after this controversy, another controversy had emerged. While Mary Kom was in the selection committee to decide the sports awards, her coach Chhote Lal Yadav’s application for the Dronacharya Award had been shortlisted for the Dronacharya Award. However, Mary Kom recused herself out of the controversy and her coach was eventually not given the honour.
“This was my second time in the committee. I have recommended many coaches and at that time there was no controversy. This time I don’t know what happened, the media created a controversy, so I recused myself,” she said.
Notably, Mary Kom had been a part of the awards selection committee for Dronacharya Award in the year 2016 too but her coach’s name was not even discussed.