Kabilan Sai Ashok selected as Paris 2024 Olympics boxing referee, becomes youngest Indian to officiate at the Games
Former Indian international boxer Col. Kabilan Sai Ashok has been selected as a Referee Judge for the Paris 2024 Olympics boxing events.
32-year-old Sai Ashok, who works as a boxing administrator at the Army Sports Institute in Pune, will become the fourth and the youngest Indian referee to officiate at the Olympic Games since St Louis 1904 Olympics. The last Indian officials to officiate at an Olympic Games were referee judges Kishen Narsi and Jay Kowli at the London 2012 Olympics.
Sai Ashok has several feathers on his cap other than his selection at the Paris 2024 Olympics. He is the first Indian sportsperson to represent his nation both as a player and an official at a World Championship. He also holds the distinction of being the only Indian referee to have been fast-tracked to a three-star status.
Col. Sai Ashok was also elected as the president of the Boxing Committee of the International Military Sports Council in 2023 – the first Indian official to hold this position.
Indian contingent to gear for medal push despite tough Paris 2024 Olympics boxing draw
India has sent a six-member contingent of boxers to the Paris 2024 Olympics. It has four female boxers, including Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain, two-time World Championships gold medalist Nikhat Zareen, Asian Games bronze medalist Preeti Pawar, and Jaismine Lamboria.
The male boxers in the Indian contingent in Paris are the reigning Commonwealth Games champion Amit Panghal and World Championships bronze medalist Nishant Dev.
The Indian boxers will look to improve the country's poor record at the sport in the Olympic Games – only three bronze medals so far – in Paris.
The female members of the Indian Paris 2024 Olympics boxing contingent, including Borgohain and Zareen, have been handed tough matches at the draw on Thursday, while their male counterparts have been given byes in the first round. However, the six boxers in Paris will look to give their best to win India’s elusive gold medal at the Olympic Games.
The Paris 2024 Olympics boxing events will start on July 26.