World Military Games | Amit Panghal, Deepak, Chirag qualify for quarter-finals

The Indian boxers continued to impress at the ongoing World Military Games as three of the pugilists made it to the top eight round. In the seventh edition of the Military Games, Panghal won his round of 16 clash against Boughanmi Bilel by a split decision. Panghal defeated the Tunisian boxer by 4-1 in the men’s 52kg category to book a place in the top eight. Earlier in the competition, the World Championships silver-medallist had a great start to the Games by winning his opening bout against Douglas Andrade of Brazil.

In the men’s 49 kg weight category, Deepak managed to thrash Vietnam’s Nguyen Linh Phung by a unanimous 5-0 verdict in the pre-quarterfinal and got a berth in the top eight. Similarily, Chirag also made an entry into the top eight of the tournament. He won the 56 kg pre-quarters by a unanimous 5-0 verdict against Venezuela’s Bonilla Jhoinen.

However, in the men’s 91 kg category, Sanjeet failed to qualify for the round of 16. The Indian boxer was defeated by local favourite Wang Zhibao in the first round.

India have fielded 54 total athletes across various events - Archery, boxing, diving, modern pentathlon, shooting, track and field, gymnastics and tennis - in the Military Games. In the last Games, which was played in South Korea, India’s military contingent had bagged six medals in 2015.