Amit Panghal landed a series of punches in the third and final round to clinch the victory.©AFP
Indians Sachin Siwach (57 kg), Sanjeet Kumar (92 kg), Amit Panghal (51 kg) and Jaismine (57 kg women) took another step towards Paris Olympic qualification by registering convincing victories over their respective opponents for qualify for the world boxing qualifiers in Bangkok. THURSDAY. Sachin started proceedings for India with a clinical 5-0 victory over Olympian Batuhan Ciftci of Turkey in the pre-quarter-final and Sanjeet then beat the challenge of Luis Sanchez of Venezuela by an identical margin in the round of 16 .
In the 57 kg category, only three boxers will qualify for the Paris Olympics. Sachin therefore needs to win two more fights to qualify while Sanjeet, who got a bye in the round of 16, will have a similar objective as all four semi-finalists will qualify in his weight category.
Facing an experienced boxer, Sachin went all out in the first round and this strategy worked wonders for the Indian as he took control of the fight very quickly.
He secured a unanimous verdict even in the second round and although Ciftci attempted a comeback in the third and final round, the Indian was ultimately too comfortable.
The 92kg bout between Sanjeet and Sanchez followed a similar pattern as the 2021 Asian Championships gold medalist did not allow his Venezuelan opponent a glance, in the first round.
Sanchez showed some spark in rounds 2 and 3, but the experienced Sanjeet kept his distance and landed his punches on counterattacks to win easily.
Later in the day, Jaismine gave Azerbaijan’s Mahsati Hamzayeva no fighting chance as she won the round of 32 in the women’s 57kg category with a convincing verdict of 5-0.
Amit, a gold medalist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, then had a perfect day for the Indian contingent by getting the better of Mexico’s Mauricio Ruiz 4-1.
The national champion was under pressure in the first round, but he picked up the pace in the final minute of that round, then turned things around with some combination punches in the third and final round to clinch the victory.
Topics mentioned in this article
