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New Delhi, September 14: Asian Games gold medallist Amit Panghal (52kg) put up a dazzling display to sail into the Round of 16 at the AIBA Men’s World Championships in Ekaterinburg, Russia on Saturday. Second-seeded Panghal, who had got a first-round bye, was immaculate in his first bout of the tournament and demolished Chinese Taipei’s Tu Po-Wei 5-0 to set up a pre-quarter-final showdown with Turkey’s Batuhan Citfci.
In a highly defensive first round, Panghal took time to settle into the bout before landing punches on his opponent. While both the boxers remained on their guard for much of the opening round, both of them showed a more pro-active and aggressive approach in the second round.
Amit evaded his opponent well before delivering his combination blows to rob the Taipei pugilist of his confidence. The Asian Championships gold medallist never relented in the final round and ensured Tu did not find a way back into the bout in a masterclass performance that sealed the unanimous win for him.
"Today's bout was good and the opponent was a tough one. I have played him in Asian Championships before where I had defeated him 3-2. This time, my strategy was to score more and I was more aggressive right from the beginning, said India No 1 male boxer.
He further added, "my next opponent is from Turkey and he is a tall boxer. We will watch his videos and plan accordingly for the next bout."
With this victory, Indian boxers continued their unbeaten run at the AIBA Men’s World Championships this year. In the past four days, Duryodhan Singh Negi (69kg), Manish Kaushik (63kg) and Brijesh Yadav (81kg) have all made a winning start to their respective campaigns. Negi had to work hard to achieve a 4-1 victory over Armenia’s Koryun Astoyan, whereas Kaushik notched up a convincing 5-0 win over Kyrgyzstan’s Argen Ullu Kadyrbek while Brijesh dominated Poland's Maleusz Goinski 5-0.
On Sunday, Asian Championships silver medallist Kavinder Singh Bisht (57kg) and Makran Cup silver medallist Sanjeet (91kg) will start their challenge after receiving byes in the opening round.
Panghal, Bisht and Ashish Kumar (75kg) have been seeded this time as a total of four Indian boxers got first-round byes at this elite championship where 488 athletes from 89 countries will be vying for medals.
