Vijender, Samota included for Astana meet

New Delhi: Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh (75 kgs), and Commonwealth Games (CWG) gold medallist Paramjeet Samota (+91 kgs) are among the Indian Elite Men Boxers, who were selected for the Asian Continental Olympic Boxing Qualification tournament to be held at Astana, Kazakhstan from April 5-12.

Apart from Vijender and Samota, four other boxers - Suranjoy Singh (52 kgs), Shiva Thapa (56 kgs), Sumit Sangwan (81 kgs) and Manpreet Singh (91 kgs) - were selected on the basis of selection trials held at NS NIS, Patiala from February 24-26.

In the 81 kgs category, Sumit is taking the place of Dinesh Kumar, who is a World Cup bronze medallist and CWG champion.

The Asian Continental Olympic Boxing Qualification tournament will be held from April 5-12.

Dinesh also represented India at the Beijing Olympics.

Shiva Thapa, meanwhile, has come in place of Akhil Kumar, a former CWG gold medallist and World Cup bronze medallist.

Akhil has represented India twice in the Olympics.

The Indian men's boxing team will leave for Kazakhstan on April 1 in order to get acclimatised.

The available quota places for London Olympics in various weight categories at the Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament are: 52 kgs (4 places), 56 kgs (3 places), 75 kgs (4 places), 81 kgs (3 places), 91 kgs (1 place) and +91 kgs (1 place).

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