Boxer Sah left out of Jakarta meet

Birju, who has moved up to 51kgs in the weight category, said his temporary passport had expired and he had requested the coaches to help him out and even gave them the Rs 1,250 that would be required to meet the expenses for the same. But apparently, nothing was done on this count and Birju was left back in the Capital.

“I had been assured that if the coaches had wanted me to be a part of the team, my passport would have been easily arranged,” said a dejected Birju who will be heading for Patiala via Jamshedpur.

He will be training for the August 11 selections trials in Patiala where the team for the Asian Championships, to be held in Malaysia from August 25, will be picked.

“Apart from super heavyweight, Rajkumar Salwan, who won a gold in the Asian and SAF Games and was ranked World No 4 a year ago, I’m the one who has a world ranking…And they have left me out,” said the soft-spoken Birju, a Tata employee.

Considered by many as one of the most stylish boxers in the country, Birju Sah has quite a collection of bronze medals in international championships. He won the bronze in the 1993 Junior Asian Championships at Bangkok, in the ’94 Hiroshima Asian Games, at the ’94 Commonwealth Games, and at an invitation championship at Havana.

When contacted by The Indian Express, Ashok Gangopadhyay, vice president, Indian Amateur Boxing Federation, (IABF), pleaded ignorance while Ashok Mukherjee, the assistant secretary of IABF, claimed that Birju had informed about his expired passport just two days before the team was to depart.

He, however, said that Birju was a medal hope for the country . Meanwhile, IABF is planning to bring back Cuban coach, Hernandez, to train the Indian team for the Asian Games.