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What's the story?
Pooja Rani became the first Indian boxer to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 after reaching the semi-finals of the Asia-Oceania zone Olympic Boxing Qualifiers.
In case you didn't know...
The Asia & Oceania zone Olympic Qualification Tournament for Boxing is being held at the Prince Hamzah Hall in Amman, Jordan from 3rd to 11th March. The Indian boxers are competing in all the 13 weight categories (8 for men and 5 for women) at the qualifiers.
The Indian contingent is being led by six-time World Champion and London Olympics bronze medalist Mary Kom and World Championship silver medalist Amit Panghal in the women's and men's categories respectively.
Also Checkout: the Tokyo Olympics 2020 Schedule
Across the men's and women's weight categories, a total of 11 Indian pugilists have reached the quarter-finals and are one win away from qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics.
This was the first bout for Pooja in the qualifiers as she had got a bye in the previous round.
The heart of the matter
In the day's first bout for Indian boxers, Pooja Rani defeated Pornnipa Chutee of Thailand in the women's 75 kg weight category with a unanimous 5-0 verdict in her favour. The win enabled her to become the first Indian boxer to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
The 29-year old Pooja, the Asian champion in the women's 81 kg weight category, was the dominant boxer right through the bout. She employed her left uppercut and right jabs to great effect to subdue her inexperienced opponent. Her dominance was reflected in the final result as she won with a unanimous 5-0 verdict with all the 5 judges scoring each of the 3 rounds 10-9 in her favour with a final scorecard of 30-27 across the board.
What's next?
Pooja Rani will be facing the top-seeded Qian Li of China in the semi-final encounter. Having already qualified for the Olympics, Pooja would go all out to secure a Gold medal at this event to boost her confidence before the all-important Olympics.
From India's point of view, 5 more boxers are participating in the quarterfinals today and they would also be hoping to make the cut for the Olympics.
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