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India’s Shiva Thapa, Amit Panghal and Mary Kom stormed into the finals of the Asian Boxing Championship in Dubai with thumping wins on Friday. The event is jointly hosted by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and the UAE Boxing Federation.
Defending champion Amit Panghal outclassed Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibossinov in the men’s 52 kg event while Shiva Thapa sent top-seed Bakhodur Usmonov of Tajikistan packing with a 4-0 win in the 64 kg category. Six-time world champion Mary Kom (51kg) too advanced to the summit clash after getting the better of Mongolia’s Lutsaikhan Altantsetse, while second seed Sanjeet (91kg) defeated Tursonov Sanjar of Uzbekistan in the semifinals.
Read: Army man Amit Panghal wants to win an Olympic gold
This will be Shiva Thapa’s third final appearance at the Asian Boxing Championships.
India is now assured of at least six silver medals with four women already making their way into the finals earlier on Thursday.
With 15 confirmed medals, the Indian contingent also achieved their highest medal haul, surpassing the previous best of 13 (two gold, four silver and seven bronze) in the 2019 edition in Bangkok.
Also read: Best chance for Amit Panghal to become the face of boxing in India
Amit Panghal turns aggressor
After a cautious start and trying to keep a distance from his opponent, Amit Panghal turned aggressor and emerged victorious. It was a turning point in the second round when he managed clean punches and piled up the pressure on Bibossinov.
Amit Panghal carried on the momentum throughout the match and stamped his authority over the Kazakh boxer to secure a commanding 5-0 win.
On Monday, Amit Panghal will meet the Rio Olympics winner and World Champion Zoirov Shakhobidin of Uzbekistan in the final.
Interestingly, Amit Panghal hogged the limelight when he won the silver medal in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Later that year, Amit Panghal bagged an Asian gold in Jakarta by beating current Olympic gold medallist Hasanboy Dusmatov. The recent performances of Amit Panghal have provided the nation with the hope of an Olympic medal.
Meanwhile, Shiva Thapa, who has already secured a record fifth consecutive medal in the Championships, will take on reigning Asian Games silver medallist Baatarsukh Chinzorig of Mongolia in the final.
However, it wasn’t a night to remember for India’s Vikas Krishan as he went down fighting to Uzbekistan’s Baturov Bobo-Usmon on a split-verdict in the 69 kg category semifinal.
Vikas Krishan’s sojourn ends at Asian Boxing Championship
Vikas Krishan, who was injured with a cut above his eye, couldn’t keep his wound intact as it opened up in the first round. Even though the Indian tried to put up a courageous effort, the on-field doctor who examined the cut stopped the bout in the third minute of the first round.
Based on points scored until then, Bobo-Usmon was declared the winner with a split verdict.
However, Varinder Singh also couldn’t manage to get past Iranian pugilist Daniyal Shahbakhsh as he conceded a narrow 2-3 defeat in the 60kg semifinal.
Yet another final for Mary Kom
Earlier, on Friday, six-time World Champion Mary Kom (51kg) along with three other Indian women pugilists—Pooja Rani (75kg), Anupama (+81kg) and Lalbuatsahi (64kg) —advanced to the finals.
Mary Kom beat Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg of Mongolia 4-1 in the 51 kg semifinal while defending champion Pooja received a walk-over against Mongolia’s Munkhbat. In the other semifinal bouts played late on Friday, Lalbuatsaihi was declared the winner after her opponents from Kuwait Noura Almutairi abandoned the bout in the second round, following the Indian’s relentless attack. Anupama (+81+kg) also emerged victorious against Mokhira Abdullaeva of Uzbekistan.
Also read: Mary Kom wants to assess herself at the Asian Boxing Championship ahead of Tokyo Olympics
Meanwhile, it was heartbreaking for two-time youth world champion Sakshi Chaudhary, who had to settle for bronze after her opponent Dina Zholaman appealed for a review of the last round of the bout. The jury upheld the claim and altered the result in favor of the Kazakh boxer.
Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Jaismine (57kg) Monika (48kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Saweety (81kg) won bronze medals after enduring defeats in their respective matches.
Gold medallists in both the men’s and women’s categories will be rewarded with USD 10,000 while the silver and bronze medal winners will take home USD 5,000 and 2,500 respectively.
The finals of all women’s and men’s categories will take place on Sunday and Monday respectively.
The event has witnessed the presence of 150 boxers from 17 countries, including strong boxing nations like India, Uzbekistan, the Philippines and Kazakhstan.
