Jitendra Kumar, Diwakar Prasad among 19 probables for WSB

Olympians Jitendra Kumar and Diwakar Prasad are among the 19 pugilists who have been short-listed to represent the Mumbai franchisee in the World Series of Boxing.

Owners of the franchisee, TransStadia Boxing India Pvt Ltd, has shortlisted 19 probable boxers out of which 15 will be picked in the upcoming AIBA-World Series of Boxing (WSB) starting in November.

The Indian franchisee has picked up the boxers in five weight categories as per the format of WSB – bantamweight (50-54kg), lightweight (57-61kg), middleweight (68-73kg), heavyweight (80-85kg) and super heavyweight (+91 kg).

Olympian Diwakar Prasad, Siddharth Verma, Mishal Kakhra, and Manoj Singh have been short-listed in the lightweight category, while Vijay Hooda, Lakhbir Singh, Brijesh Kumar Meena and Vinit Kotian have been named as probables in the middleweight category.

Boxers, who are participating in the upcoming World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, will automatically be eligible for direct participation for the franchise.

The pre-selection process started on September 17 and concluded on Sunday with 29 pugilists from all parts of country fighting it out to earn a berth in the Indian franchisee.

List of probable pugilists:

Bantam Weight:

Balvir Singh (Junior World Champion), Jeetender Kumar (Olympian), Gaurav Bhiduri, Vipin Kumar (Junior World Champion).

Light Weight:

Diwakar Prasad (Olympian), Siddharth Verma, Mishal Kakhra, Manoj Singh.

Middle Weight:

Vijay Hooda, Lakhbir Singh, Brijesh Kumar Meena, Vinit Kotian.

Light Heavyweight:

Parminder Singh, Ajay Singh, Rahul Kumar, Tej Karan.

Heavyweight:

Ram Singh, Sumit Ranghi, Krishan Kumar.