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What's the story?
Vikas Krishan continued India's winning run at the Asia-Oceania Olympic Boxing Qualifiers by sailing through to the men's quarter-finals in the 69 kg weight category. He is now just one win away from qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. But Naman Tanwar crashed out after losing his Round of 16 clash in the men's 91 kg weight category.
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 69 kg weight category has 6 Olympic slots while the 91 kg weight category has 4 Olympic slots up for grabs in these qualifiers.
This was the first bout for both Vikas Krishan and Naman Tanwar at these qualifiers. Their compatriots Ashish Kumar (75 Kg), Manish Kaushik (63 Kg) and Sachin Kumar (81 Kg) have already won their Round of 16 clashes to qualify for the quarter-finals and are just one win away from qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics.
Heart of the matter
It was a mixed day for India at the Asia-Oceania Olympic Boxing Qualifiers with Vikas Krishan winning his pre-quarterfinal bout in the men's 69 kg weight category but Naman Tanwar bowed out of the qualifiers after losing his bout in the 91 kg weight category. Having made it through to the quarter-finals, Vikas is just a win away from qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Vikas started the day well for India by defeating Nursultan Mamataly of Kyrgyzstan in the men's 69 kg weight category with a unanimous 5-0 verdict in his favour.
Vikas, who has returned back to the amateur fold to realise his dream of an Olympic medal, was the dominant boxer throughout the bout. His Kyrgyz opponent was the recipient of an absolute hammering from Vikas and it was reflected in the judges' scorecards as well. Vikas won all the rounds with a unanimous verdict with 4 of the judges scoring the bout 30-26 and the other judge scoring the bout 30-25 in the Indian's favour.
Naman could not continue India's winning run at the tournament as he was defeated by Alaa Aldin Ghousoon of Syria in the men's 91 kg weight category with a unanimous 0-5 verdict against the Indian.
Naman's bout turned out to be in total contrast to Vikas' bout. The Indian was out-boxed by his more illustrious Syrian opponent. Although Naman did put up a brave fight, there was no stopping the Syrian as he won a unanimous decision across the 3 rounds with all the judges scoring each of the rounds 10-9 for a final scorecard of 30-27 in favour of Ghousoon.
What's next?
Vikas will be facing the third seeded Sewonrets Quincy Mensah Okazawa of Japan in his quarterfinal bout. A win in this encounter will earn him an entry into the semi-finals and guarantee a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Naman on the other hand, will have to wait for the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament to be held in Paris from 13th to 20th May to have another shot at qualification.
