Asian Boxing Championships | Six Indians in the race for gold medal
Amit Panghal, Kavinder Bisht, Deepak Singh, Ashish Kumar, Simranjit Kaur and Pooja Rani have all entered the finals of the Asian Boxing Championships in Bangkok. Among the other Indian pugilists, Laishram Sarita Devi and Manisha have settled with bronze medals each at the ongoing continental event.
Bisht won his semi-final bout in men’s 56kg weight category against Mongolian Enkh-Amar Khakhuu on Thursday to book tickets for the summit clash of the championship. He showed aggression from the very beginning of the clash and managed to win it with ease at the end. Bisht had earlier got the better of world champion Kairat Yeraliyev of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinal. Earlier in the day, Deepak had gotten another walkover to book a place in the finals as Kazakhstan’s Temirtas Zhussupov didn’t turn up for the 49kg semi-final bout.
Amit Panghal has made it to the summit clash in the men's 52kg category as he got the better of China's Hu Jianguan via a split decision in the semi-final bout. In the 75kg category, Ashish was involved in a high-voltage final bout against Iran’s Seyedshahin Mousavi. The Indian eventually managed to get the verdict in his favour from the judges to enter the finals in this weight category as well.
However, Shiva Thapa failed to qualify for the final as he was beaten by Zakir Safiullin as a poor show in the final round of the semi-final resulted in the split decision going against the Indian in the 60kg weight category.
Pooja defeated Kazakhstan’s Fariza Sholtay in women’s 75kg through a unanimous decision in her favour to make it to the summit clash of the continental event. On the other hand, senior boxer Laishram Sarita Devi (60kg) and silver medal-winner from last edition Manisha (54kg) settled for bronze medals after losing their respective bouts in the 60kg and 54kg category. Later in the evening, former junior world champion Nikhat Zareen (51kg) and Sonia Chahal (57kg) had to settle with bronze medals as well after they lost their semi-final clashes.
Meanwhile, Simranjit Kaur has booked her place in the finals of the 64kg category by getting the better of Uzbekistan's Maftunakhon Melieva in the semi-final which was the last Indian bout of the day.