Parveen Hooda suspended until July 16, 2025; India set to lose Hangzhou Asian Games bronze
Boxer Parveen Hooda has been suspended for 22 months by the International Testing Agency, a ruling that will see India lose the bronze medal she won at the Hangzhou Asian Games held from September 23 to October 8, 2023; the ITA confirmed her suspension runs until July 16, 2025. The ITA also announced the disqualification of some of her past results.
The suspension follows findings that Hooda committed three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period as defined in article 2.4 of the International Boxing Association’s anti-doping rules. “In addition to the period of ineligibility, the athlete’s results obtained between December 11, 2022 until May 17, 2024 are disqualified,” said ITA in a statement. Boxing Federation of India secretary Hemanta Kalita said: “The ITA reduced her suspension by eight months, but cancelled her results during that period as well.”
Hooda was a 2022 World Championships bronze medallist in the 63kg category and won a bronze at 57kg in Hangzhou, a result that had secured her an Olympic quota for Paris. As a consequence of the ITA decision she will lose that Hangzhou medal and the Paris Olympic quota and will not be eligible to participate in the Paris Olympics.
India’s overall Asian Games medal total will fall from 107 to 106 as a result of Hooda’s disqualification; the change will not affect the country’s fourth-place finish in the final standings. The reduction in the tally and the preserved team ranking were both noted by the BFI following the ITA announcement.
The Boxing Federation of India has moved to try to reclaim the lost Olympic quota by naming Jaismine Lamboria for the women’s 57kg category at the final qualifying tournament. Lamboria is a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist in 60kg and has been selected specifically for this event.
The last Olympic qualifier begins in Bangkok from Friday and the BFI says Jaismine will leave for Bangkok on Tuesday as part of its bid to reclaim the quota place.
