Asian Boxing Championships 2022 | Sparsh Kumar makes it to pre-quarters, to face world champion next
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Indian boxers Sparsh Kumar and Lakshya Chahar got India's journey at the Asian Boxing Championships 2022 in Amman, Jordan, off to a strong start on the first day on Tuesday. In the round of 32, Punjabi boxer Sparsh Kumar (51 kg) faced up against Diushebaev Nurzhigit of Kyrgyzstan.
The Punjabi boxer demonstrated perfect footwork and blows to easily defeat his opponent 5-0. From the outset, the southpaw controlled the tempo of the fight and prevented his opponent from settling. On Wednesday, the Indian boxer will compete in the pre-quarterfinals against Olympic bronze medalist and current world champion Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan. Along with Sparsh Kumar, Mohammad Hussamuddin (57 kg), the bronze medalist from the 2022 Commonwealth Games, will compete on Wednesday in their pre-quarterfinal matches.
Later on in the day, Lakshya Chahar (80 kg) qualified to the quarterfinals after defeating Tajik Shabbos Negmat 5-0 in the round of 16. There will be 267 fighters competing at the Asian Boxing Championships in Amman in 2022 from 27 major boxing nations. India submitted a 25-person team to the competition.
Shiva Thapa, a five-time medalist in the Asian Games, will start his campaign in the pre-quarterfinals together with seven other male boxers from India: Ananta (54 kg), Hussamuddin (57 kg), Etash Khan (60 kg), Amit Kumar (67 kg), Sachin (71 kg), Lakshya (80 kg), and Kapil (86 kg).
After obtaining first-round byes, Govind Sahani (48 kg), Sumit (75 kg), Naveen (92 kg), and Narender (92+ kg) will begin the quarterfinals. Women's boxer Lovlina Borgohain, who won bronze in the Tokyo Olympics, will open her campaign against Kazakhstan's Valentina Khalzova in the quarterfinal on Saturday. Lovlina, who switched her weight category from 69kg to 75kg, will box in her first international competition in Amman.
Simranjit Kaur (60 kg), who won bronze at the 2018 global championships, will face Yeonji Oh of Korea, who won gold at the Asian Games and is a two-time Asian champion, in the quarterfinals on Sunday.
Monika (48 kg), Minakshi (52 kg), Sakshi (54 kg), Preeti (57 kg), Parveen (63 kg), Ankushita Boro (66 kg), Pooja (70 kg), and Savita (50 kg) will all begin their campaigns from the quarterfinal round.
The semi-finals will begin with Saweety Boora (81 kg) and Alfiya Pathan (+81 kg) competing. The Indian team secured the nation's best-ever result in the competition during the last iteration of the competition, which was held in Dubai last year. The Indian team brought home 16 medals.
