Asian Boxing Championship: Amit Panghal, Shiv Thapa storm into final to join Mary Kom and three other women boxers

Asian Boxing Championship: Amit Panghal, Shiv Thapa storm into final to join Mary Kom and three other women boxers

Amit Panghal wins his semi final bout

India continues to dominate the ongoing Asian Boxing Championship in Dubai. As many as seven boxers of the country will be featuring in the gold medal matches. Tokyo Olympic-bound Amit Panghal stormed into the final riding on a streak of tremendous performances. Panghal will face the reigning Olympic and World Champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan in the final. Having lost to him in the 2019 World Championship, it will be interesting to see if the Indian will be able to take his revenge and defend his title this time around.

Shiva Thapa put up a stunning show in the semifinal to defeat top seed and defending champion Bakhodur Usmonov of Tajikistan 4-0 in the semi-final. Thapa, who is all set to clinch his fifth medal in the row at the tournament, forced a standing count on his opponent during the bout. He will square off against second seed and 2018 Asian Games Silver medallist Baatarsukh Chinzorig of Mongolia in the final.

Sanjeet became the third Indian to make it to the final last night following an ill-tempered bout against third seed and previous edition’s silver-medallist Sanjar Tursunov. The Indian registered a unanimous win with his opponent getting points deductions. Debutant Varinder Singh made his mark as he secured a bronze medal on his maiden appearance. The national champion’s grit in the semi-final clash was widely acclaimed after he faltered in the high-intensity clash against Iran’s Daniyal Shahbakhsh.

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On the other hand, Tokyo bound Vikas Krishan Yadav‘s semi-final bout was called off in the first round after an eye injury he picked up in the previous round aggravated. He endured a split decision loss to top seed and defending champion Baturov Bobo-Usmon of Uzbekistan. The bleeding was bad enough to force the referee to stop the contest.

Mary Kom guns for sixth gold medal as India set to win a medal in each category in women section in Asian Boxing Championship

Mary Kom wins her semi final bout of Asian Boxing Championship
Mary Kom wins her semi final bout

Olympic medalist Mary Kom bounced back strongly following a slow start in the semi final to set up a gold medal clash with Kazakhstan’s two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay. Following a defensive start in the first round, Mary gave her Momgolian challenger a taste of her own medicine in the second round.

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“It has taken a lot to adjust to the humid weather here. Today, I was a bit slow in the first round but got my rhythm from the second round onwards. I had already fought her once so it didn’t take much to understand her gameplan,” Mary Kom told PTI.

Lalbuatsaihi, Pooja Rani and Anupama had also entered the finals in their respective categories. It was a memorable win for Lalbuatsaihi as her opponent Noura Almutairi of Kuwait decided to yield the bout in the second round. Sakshi Choudhary sealed a hard-fought victory to seal a final spot. But she later lost her place in the final after her opponent, top-seeded Kazakh Dina Zholaman successfully reviewed the narrow loss to overturn the decision.

Olympic bound Pooja received a walkover from Mongolia’s Munkhbat Myagmarjargal and she will face Uzbekistan’s Mavluda Movlonova in the final. In surprising turn of events, Lovlina Borgohain and Simranjit Kaur endured defeats and will be settling for bronze along with Monika, Saweety and debutant Jaismine.

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