Kasaragod: Self-trained twin boxers Jeevan Joseph and Jilna Joseph (19) should have been on top of the world after winning gold medals at the University of Calicut's boxing championship.
But they are down in the dumps after the university delivered its knockout punch.
Instead of Jeevan, the university selected Kerala's reigning senior champion in the 63.5-67kg category for the All India Inter-University (AIIU) Boxing Championship to be held at Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak from January 2 to 10.
What makes it bitter for Jeevan is that he had defeated the senior champion, a student of St. Aloysius College, Thrissur, in the semi-final of the university championship on December 7.
The university said it was a close bout and the selectors were unanimous in giving the state champion another chance because Jeevan could have won because of the "unfortunate decisions" of the judges.
In the case of Jilna, the university did not take anyone in her 54-57kg category to Rohtak. The women's boxing championship is being held from December 26 to January 1. "It was our last chance to make it to the All India Inter-University Championship. But the university brutally dashed our hopes," said Jeevan.
The twins and their elder sister Neenu Joseph, who is also a boxer, decided not to take the university's decision lying down and have taken their fight to social media after finding no support from university officials.
Jeevan and Jilna are third-year BCom students at Sahrdaya College of Advanced Studies at Kodakara in Thrissur.
In 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, the twins got silver medals in the university's boxing championship. "So we trained harder and longer despite injuries for this year's championship because only the gold medalists are selected for the All India competition," said Jilna.
In January 2022, Jilna fractured her arm after landing on her elbow while practising netball. "Her broken elbow was held together with screws," said Neenu. It took her six months to straighten her arm. Her practice for the university championship started after that in July.
Jeevan was her coach. The brother-sister duo trained for seven hours every day in their college.
Jeevan and Jilna boxed their way through the elimination competition held from December 7 to 9 and won gold in their respective categories.
Men's championship has 13 different weight categories and the women's championship has 12 categories. "Except for Jeevan, all the other 12 winners in the men's categories were from one boxing academy in Thrissur," said Neenu.
The university then announced a preparatory camp for the championship winners from December 15 to 23. "The camp for men was attended only by the winners. But in my category, the boxer who I defeated in the semi-final was also there. He belongs to the same boxing academy in Thrissur," said Jeevan.
The camp was held at the Aquatics Complex at Patturaikkal in Thrissur but was managed by St. Aloysius College, Thrissur.
After eight days, the university said there will be a trial match to select the boxer in the 67-kg category on its campus at Tenhipalam in Malappuram district. "There was no trial match for any other category," Jeevan said.
Nevertheless, Jeevan and his rival reached the university for the trial match.
"The arrangement the university made for the selection match shocked us," said Jeevan's father K C Joseph, a motorcycle mechanic and sports enthusiast.
"There were no three-corner cameras to record the match, one of the judges was the coach of my son's rival, the third-place contestant. The other two judges were linked to the Thrissur academy," said Joseph.
Jeevan said he contacted his college and his Physical Education teacher said not to take part in the trial. "My teacher said the match was a trap to give legitimacy to the selection of my rival," he said.
Jeevan said the university tournament had five judges and evaluators. The observer of the tournament was national women's boxing coach Manoj Kumar R K. "Is the university questioning the decision of these judges," he asked.
'Trained to be fighters'
Joseph, who is originally from Vellarikundu in Kasaragod's Balal hill panchayat, said he trained his three children in Kalaripayattu from classes 5 to 9.
Jeevan is well-versed in Kalari 'uzhichil' or Kalari oil massage. "I put them in boxing because Kalaripayattu did not have enough avenues," he said.
After a year's training in Class 10, Jeevan won the state sub-junior boxing championship in 2017-2018.
The Kerala Sports Council picked him up and trained him at Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram for two years when he was in classes 11 and 12. He was the state school champion in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020.
His sister Jilna was trained in the Sports Authority of India (SAI) at Thalassery.
After schooling, they got together for the undergraduate course at Sahrdaya.
Meanwhile in 2018, when the state government announced a stadium at Nileshwar, 30km from Vellarikundu, their father Joseph bought five cents, 1km from the proposed site. He took a loan of Rs 25 lakh and built a house with a motorcycle workshop on the ground floor.
They moved to the new house in 2021 when the stadium was opened. "Now my children can practice without worrying about time. And when they return at odd hours from camps and tournaments, they can reach home without difficulties," he said.
Joseph said his sacrifices were matched by the dedication of his children. "So I cannot let it pass when university officials try to run over their hard work," he said.
On the same day when Jeevan pulled out of the selection match, Joseph and his three children tried to meet the vice-chancellor Prof M K Jayaraj. "The VC was not there. So we gave our complaint to the pro-VC M Nasser," said Neenu. But the university did not act on the complaint. "The team is leaving for Rothak tomorrow," said Jeevan.
'We were trying to correct the mistake of the judges'
Dr Sakeer Hussain V P, director of the university's Department of Physical Education, hinted that Jeevan managed to defeat the reigning state champion in the semi-final because the judges erred in assigning marks. "Officials can make mistakes," he told Onmanorama.
Soon after the match, the champion filed a review petition and the selectors decided that he should be given another chance. "Who else will address his grievance brought about by the unfortunate decisions of officials," he said.
Observer Manoj Kumar also agreed to a selection bout.
A senior boxing official, who was present at the tournament, said Jeevan defeated the state champion by 3-2. "It was a close bout and judges can err in assigning points in such close matches. So we wanted to correct the mistake," he said.
There were four selectors present at the match and all agreed the champion should be given a second chance. "Jeevan should have taken it and proved he did not win on a fluke," the top official said.
When asked why the contestant's coach was one of the judges for the selection match, the top official said Jeevan had all the right to ask for a new panel of judges and cameras. "He should have exercised his rights and avoided this controversy," the official said.
Neenu said the blame would always come on poor students. "There is no value for the hard work done by the poor, there is no value for our struggles, no value for our difficulties and our injuries," she said.
More athletes come out with complaints
After Jeevan and Jilna went public with their complaint against the University of Calicut, more athletes have taken to social media to blast the varsity's selection procedure.
Abrin K Babu, a third-year student and high jumper, said the university uses meets and trials to pick athletes of its choice for nationals.
He said he came first in the trials but the selectors told him that the result of the university meet would be considered. "Another friend came first in the meet for the long jump but third in the trials. He was also not selected," he said.
