Avoiding choices also a choice, perhaps the worst choice: Santiago Nieva

He is well aware of the "disappointments" triggered by a revamped selection policy but Indian boxing's High Performance Director Santiago Nieva remains unfazed and is hopeful that good performances will convince detractors of the "difficult choices" he is making.

Indian boxing has gone through a revamp of sorts in its selection process with the conventional trials not being the sole criteria. A ranking system, rating boxers on their performances in national and international events and the national camp, has been put in place to pick squads for major events like next month's Asian Games.

"There are always disappointments but one has to deal with that. The easy thing to do would have been to go for a trial in all the weight categories. But I believe that having a system of analysing a boxer's performance over a period of time is a fairer one," Nieva told PTI in an interview.

World bronze-medallist Gaurav Bidhuri (56kg) and former Commonwealth Games silver-winner Mandeep Jangra (69kg) were among those who felt hard-done about being left out from the Asiad squad without trials.

"The tough part is to deal with individual disappointments but it is part of my job profile to ensure that nobody loses the zeal to continue," said the Argentine-born Swede, who is also dealing with the "heartbreak" of watching the country of his origin bow out of the ongoing FIFA World Cup.

"I talk to them regularly, explain to them why it is necessary for them to be at their best at all times instead of just before a trial. That way, I can extract better performances from them," he said.

"(But) I believe avoiding choices is also a choice and that is the worst choice," reasoned Nieva.

The Commonwealth Games squad, picked almost entirely on the basis of a ranking system barring a couple of weight categories, fetched eight medals in the men's competition and Nieva is hopeful that a good medal haul in the Asian Games would go some way in convincing the critics of his decisions.

"I am not against trials, but I am against trials being the only means to select a team for a competition. I believe, overall sparring discipline in the camp, performances in international and national tournaments should form the basis of selection," he explained.

"And in weight categories, where it is too close to call, I am all for having trials between the top two," he said.

"Take for instance football, you have a squad of 23 going to the World Cup, do all of them play? The call on the best XI is taken after considering a number of factors. You have three goalkeepers but the first choice is just one, does it mean that the other two would stop playing? Of course not because that's what makes one an athlete, to constantly strive for more."