Mary Kom, Panghal secure qualification for Tokyo Games
World No 1 Indian comes through tough quarter-final round
a flurry of powerful punches towards the end forcing Magno to retreat, registering a convincing victory. Mary Kom will next face Yuan Chang of China for a berth in the final.
Amit Panghal also qualified for his maiden Olympics. Panghal is not used to being pushed to the corner. He is sharp when it comes to reading his opponents and making the tactical changes to come on top. At the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Jordan, however, Panghal has survived on the edge.
For the second consecutive bout, Panghal had to snuff out a strong resistance. The world championships silver medallist and top seed Indian just about managed to edge past Carlo Paalam of Philippines 4-1 in split verdict to move into the semi-finals and book his maiden Olympics berth.
Manish Kaushik, the only other Indian male boxer who won a medal (bronze) at the world championships last year, will have to wait to seal his Tokyo berth. He lost his quarterfinal 2-3 to third seed Chinzorig
Baatarsukh of Mongolia in a thrilling contest that saw both boxers engage in fierce exchange. Kaushik had beaten Chinzorig at the world championships, but the Mongolian came better prepared this time and his hard punches threw the Indian in disarray. Kaushik is still in with a chance to qualify for Tokyo as six boxers will make the cut the 63kg category. Kauhsik will have to beat Harrison Garside of Australia, another losing quarter-finalists, on Wednesday to ensure an Olympic berth
Like Kaushik, Panghal was also facing a familiar opponent in Carlo Paalam whom the Indian has beaten twice before at the Asian Games and World Championships. This time, however, Paalam was aggressive from the start and hit some clean punches. Panghal still managed to counter-punch his way to a 3-2 split verdict in the first round. Panghal’s was able to find his range in the second, though Paalam too had his share of scoring punches. It all boiled down to the third and final round where
Panghal and Paalam were involved in an intense exchange. The Indian, eventually, scraped past to the smei-finals where he meets Rio Olympics bronze medallist Chinese Jianguan Hu, who defeated world championships bronze-medallist and fourth seed Kazakh Saken Bibossinov 5-0.
“I have beaten him (Paalam) twice, so I was confident going into this match. I executed the strategy of my coaches to came out on top. I have also beaten the Chinese boxer at the Asian Championships and will be looking to seal a place in the final,” said Panghal.
In the first round Panghal, the Asian Games and Asian Championships gold medallist, managed a hard-earned 3-2 triumph over Mongolia’s Enkhmanadakh Kharkhuu.
Former junior world champion Sakshi Chaudhary (57kg) lost her quarterfinal bout 0-5 to Korea’s Im Aeji. The 19-year-old will not get another opportunity to seal Tokyo berth as only semifinalists of 57kg qualify for the Olympics.