Four months before the Paris Olympics, Indian boxing is in crisis, with high-achieving coach Bernard Dunn resigning following the team's disastrous performance in the Olympic qualifiers in Italy.
India lost eight boxers in the opening round and failed to get any spot from Italy's Busto Arsizio. Dunn did not return to India with his team and submitted his resignation to the Boxing Federation of India.
“We have received his resignation and convened an executive committee meeting on Friday to review the situation,” Boxing Federation of India secretary general Hemanta Kalita said.
BFI higher-ups were dissatisfied with Dunn's methods. The Irish have changed their selection policy and introduced an evaluation process in their international camps. That didn't work for BFI. The last straw was the performance in Italy.
The foreign coach Bernard brought in, Dmitry Dmitruk, is currently in India and his fate is on the brink. With the final Olympic qualifiers in Thailand starting May 23 in two months' time, the BFI will need to decide on its future course as soon as possible.
Since it will not be possible to hire foreign coaches in such a short period of time, the BFI will have to rely on reliable domestic coaches.
There are talks that the BFI may bring back women's team coach Bhaskar Bhatt. Bhatt, who was the head coach of the women's team till June last year, is currently the SAI HPD for boxing at NCOE Rohtak. He reportedly had a disagreement with Dunn over the team's training and selection process, and subsequently left the team.
Men's team head coach CA Kuttapa has been with the team for many years along with Dharmendra Pradhan. BFI members said they would “consider all options before making a final decision”.
The biggest obstacle may be the selection policy. From 2023 onwards, Indian teams, be it Asian Games or World Championships, will be selected through an evaluation process. The selection trial was not held, and boxers also knocked on the court's door. A change in policy at this late point in the Olympic cycle could spark a new debate.
“I am not satisfied with the evaluation process for selection. We have expressed our concerns,” said a representative camper. He could not join the Italian team.
One coach said it took one Olympic cycle to recognize the changing situation and make a change. “It takes time to bring about change in any system. The evaluation process he put in place has been followed in several other countries as well. That's a good thing and the boxers have gotten used to it. World Championship No one complained when we won four medals.” coach.
Dunn joined in late October 2022 after the BFI stalled on extending former HPD Santiago Nieva's contract and lost a crucial year of time in preparation for the Paris Olympics. When Dunn joined, he was responsible for preparing the team for the World Championships and Asian Games, and wanted to focus on a small number of elite boxers during the national team camp. At the Asian Games, Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain, Preity Saipower and Parveen Hooda qualified for Paris, but the male boxers failed him there.
