The Indian squad for the World Boxing Championships that opens at Liverpool UK on Thursday afternoon have been handed an easy draw with medal potential Hitesh Gulia (mens 70kg) Abhinash Jamwal (mens 65kg) Nikhat Zareen (womens 51kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (womens 70kg) all avoiding formidable opponents in the first round. Whereas Gulia Jamwal Lovlina have earned the byes in the preliminary round Nikhat Zareen will greet Jennifer Lozana of USA. How is the confidence of the Indian Team? The 20-Indian team is set on delivering an impressive performance at the inaugural World Championships scheduled to be hosted under the banner of the World Boxing – an international governing body for boxing that was established recently and their prospects have certainly gotten a boost with the return to action for Nikhat world champion and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina. Both Lovlina and Nikhat have not featured in an international tournament this year but impressed in the domestic circuit and dominated the trials. The Indian boxers shone through in the two World Boxing Cup competitions in Brazil and Kazakhstan by winning 17 medals with four gold. What is happening for the first time? The World Boxing Championships will also for the very first time witness the mens and womens championships taking place simultaneously when over 544 boxers from 68 national federations will compete across 20 weight categories. Of the other medal prospects in contention for India Sakshi (womens 54kg) will begin her journey against Ukraines Viktoriia Shkeul while Jaismine Lamboria (womens 57kg) will face stiff second round encounter with Brazil budding star boxer Jucielen Cerqueira Romeu after going through Ukraines Daria-Olha Hutarina in the preliminary round. Jaismine had defeated Romeu in the World Boxing Cup final in Astana and will also feel assured of delivering the similar performance in Liverpool. Hitesh and Abhinash have been positioned in separate halves of the draw away from their nearest rivals Kainan Oliveira and Yuri Falcao (both Brazilianrs) respectively and will be favourites to advance to the top encounter of their respective weights divisions. Four Indian boxers will feature on the first day of the competition with Pawan Bartwal (mens 55kg) starting Indias campaign when he is scheduled to face Brazils Michael Douglas Trindade with Sakshi (womens 54kg) the seasoned Sanamacha Chanu (womens 70kg) and Harsh Choudhary (mens 90kg) contesting the evening session. First round matches of the Indian players: Womens 48kg – Meenakshi Hooda vs Bye 51kg – Nikhat Zareen (India) vs Jennifer Lozana 54kg – Sakshi vs Viktoriia Shkeul (UK 57kg – Jaismine Lamboria vs Daria-Olha Hutarina (UKR) next round next Brazilian Jucielen Cerque 60kg – Sanju Khatri (NEP) vs Aneta Rygi 65kg – Neeraj Phogat (India) versus Krista K 70kg – Sanamacha Chanu vs Ditte Frostholm (DEN) 75kg – Lovlina Borgohain vs bye 80kg – Pooja Rani vs bye 80+kg – Nupur Sheoran vs bye Mens 50kg – Yadumani Singh Mandengbam vs bye 55kg – Pawan Bartwal vs Michael Douglas Da Silva Trindade 60kg – Sachin Siwach Jr vs Bye 65kg – Abhinash Jamwal vs bye 70kg – Hitesh Gulia Bye 75kg – Sumit Kundu vs Mohammad Alhussien (JOR) 80kg – Lakshya Chahar vs bye 85kg – Jugnoo Ahlawat vs bye 90kg – Harsh Chaudhary vs Adam Tutak (POL) 90-kg – Narender Berwal (vs Martin McDonagh (IRL) Story Highlights: The 20-Indian team is set on delivering an impressive performance at the inaugural World Championships. Gulia Jamwal Lovlina have earned the byes in the preliminary round Nikhat Zareen will greet Jennifer Lozana of USA. The Indian boxers shone through in the two World Boxing Cup competitions in Brazil and Kazakhstan by winning 17 medals with four gold