Braving injury, Vikas defends to ensure 3rd medal
JAKARTA: A serious cut above the left eyebrow just two days before a bout can shake the confidence of any boxer. Not Vikas Krishan’s.
Krishan’s ability to defend himself against relentless attack was on display on Wednesday as he guaranteed himself a hat-trick of Asian Games medals with a thrilling 3-2 win over China’s Tuoheta Erbieke Tanglatihan in the men’s middleweight (75kg) division quarter-finals.
While Krishan had to work hard, Amit Panghal brushed aside Kim Jang Ryong of North Korea with a unanimous 5-0 verdict in the men’s light flyweight (49kg) category. With this win, Amit also assured himself of a medal.
Gold medallist in the lightweight category at the 2010 Games in Guangzhou and a middleweight bronze medallist at the 2014 Incheon Games, Vikas made a solid start before finding himself in trouble when a right jab from Tuoheta led to bleeding from the cut.
This could have easily dampened the spirit of the 26-year-old Indian, but he gathered himself and showed courage.
The fans as well as the support staff of the boxing team kept egging on Vikas, who, despite the bleeding, stretched the Chinese rival in the last round and eventually emerged victorious.
“He (Tuoheta) is a young opponent and I have beaten him 5-0 several times. However, he managed to hurl an upper cut at the beginning itself and it split open my eyebrow,” said Vikas. “I showed determination in the second round, playing aggressively, even though I felt some pain.”
“I didn’t want to go all out and expose my injury further. So, I decided to defend myself. I had all the experience. I’m happy that it worked and am confident of making it to the finals with a better showing in the semis,” said Vikas, who faces Kazakhstan’s Amankul Abilkhan in the semi-final on Friday.
In his bout, Rohtak boy Amit turned out to be far superior to his opponent and dominated all the three rounds. He kept hurling punches on his rival Kim right from the start.
“Such an attacking play was part of our strategy. Whatever we had planned came handy in the bout,” Amit said. “The boxer was aggressive and I planned a wait and watch strategy and then released the punches.” Meanwhile, Sarjubala Devi lost 0-5 to Chang Yuan of China in the quarter-finals of the 51kg category of the women’s section.