New Delhi, Mar 4 (IANS): With just about 10 days remaining before the start of the event, international female pugilists have begun their training camp for the 13th edition of the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships with Sri Lanka being the first team to take to the ring on Saturday. The Championships will be held from March 15 to 26 at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here

The training camp is being organised by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) with the support of the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC). The leading Maharatna Company under the Ministry of Power has signed a support agreement with BFI in February and will be spending INR 30 crore over the period of three years as part of its CSR initiative to help develop the sport in India.

As a part of the support agreement, BFI is utilising the funds to conduct the international training camp which will be attended by the top boxers to prepare for the Championships including the Olympic bronze medallists Lovlina Borgohain and reigning World Champion Nikhat Zareen.

Two Sri Lankan boxers Nadeekapushpakumari (48kg) and Keshani Hansika (57kg) were the first foreigners to train for the championships in the Capital. They sparred against Indian boxers to fine-tune their skills ahead of their bouts.

The BFI is hosting the Women's World Boxing Championships for the third time, most ever by any country since the tournament's inception and a total of 395 boxers, including the 12 Indians, from 78 countries have registered so far for this biennial event.

The event will also see a total prize pool of INR 20 crore of which Rs 10 crore being awarded to the gold medallists. Boxers who finish as runners-up in their respective categories as well as those who claim bronze will receive their prizes from pools of INR 5 crore.