New Delhi, Aug. 16: Four-time world champion boxer M.C. Mary Kom will lead the 10-member Indian contingent to the sixth AIBA World Championships to be held in Barbados next month. The Khel Ratna awardee will compete in the light flyweight (48kg) category after winning four world titles in the pin weight (46kg) division.
An unprecedented 306 pugilists from 75 countries have registered for the September 9 to 19 championships after women’s boxing got the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia’s nod for inclusion in the Guangzhou Asian Games this year and the London Olympics in 2012.
The 27-year-old mother of two is also one of the six brand ambassadors for the October 3 to 14 Commonwealth Games here.
The boxer from Manipur won the lone gold medal at the previous edition of the event in Ningbo City, China, where India finished overall fifth with four medals, including one silver and two bronze.
Besides Mary Kom, Arjuna awardee L. Sarita Devi (51kg) is the only other boxer to be selected from the list of medal winners in the last edition.
Squad: M.C. Mary Kom (48 kg), L. Sarita Devi (51kg), Priyanka Choudhary (54kg), Pavitra (57kg), Neetu Chahal (60kg), Pratibha Jakhar (64kg), Kavita Goyat (69kg), Aswathy Mol (75kg), Laxmi Padiya (81kg), Kavita Chahal (+81kg).