Asian Boxing Championships: Seven Indians assured of a medal after direct semifinal entry

India are assured of seven medals at the Asian Boxing Championships after the draws came out on Sunday. Seven Indian female boxers, including Mary Kom, made it to the semifinals without a fight, ensuring the medal haul for the country.

Mary Kom (51kg), Lalbuatsaihi (64kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Pooja Rani (75kg), Monika (48kg), Saweety (81kg) and Anupama (+81kg) are the Indian boxers who benefitted from the small size of the draw. Lalbuatsaihi faces Noura Almutairi of Kuwait in her first round, while Uzbek Navbakhor Khamidova will come up against Borgohain.

Pooja will be up against Mongolian Munkhbat Myagmarjargal (May 27) and Saweety faces Fariza Sholtay of Kazakhstan. If Saweety wins, she will be up against Uzbek Ruzmetova Sokhiba in the final.

Mokhira Abdullaeva of Uzbekistan faces a stiff challenge from India’s Anupama, while Monika will be up against second seed Kazakh Alua Balkibekova.

Work hard..Play hard. I may not be the best but watch me improved. pic.twitter.com/MKLKzhpWRJ

— Mary Kom OLY (@MangteC) May 24, 2021

Mary Kom got a bye in the first round and will face the winner of the bout between Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg (Mongolia) and Sumaiya Qosimova (Tajikistan) in the semifinals. Other Indians in the fray, Sakshi (54kg), Jasmine (57kg) and Simranjit Kaur (60kg), will begin their campaign on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.

Indian male pugilists begin Asian Boxing Championships campaign on Monday

Meanwhile, in the men’s category at the Asian Boxing Championships, India’s Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Mohammad Hussamuddin (56 kg), former Asian champion Shiva Thapa (64kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) will begin their campaign on Monday.

𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 🥊ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships kicks off tonight. Our boxers are all motivated and charged up, take a look 👇🏻#boxing#AsianEliteBoxingChampionships#StayHomeStaySafe pic.twitter.com/FZIN53xdrL

— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) May 24, 2021

Amit Panghal (52kg) got a first-round bye and will face Mongolia’s Enkhmanadakh Kharkhuu in the quarterfinals. Ashish Kumar (75kg), who also got a first-round bye, will face World Championships silver medallist Abilkhan Amankul of Kazakhstan in his opening bout.

The COVID-19 pandemic and resultant travel restrictions have forced the organisers to keep the Asian Boxing Championships open for boxers from 17 countries, including India, Uzbekistan, Philippines and Kazakhstan. In the last edition of the Asian Boxing Championships held in Bangkok in 2019, India won 13 medals, including two gold.