Panghal in quarters of Oly qualifiers, Solanki bows out

AMMAN: World Championships silver medallist and top seed Amit Panghal (52kg) moved into the quarter-final of the boxing Asian Olympic qualifiers with a narrow 3-2 win over Mongolia’s Enkhmandakh Kharkhuu in Amman on Saturday.

Panghal will now face 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medallist Carlo Paalam of Philipinnes. One more win would be enough for the 24-year-old to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The six-time world champion Mary Kom also advanced to the quarter-final of the Asian/ Oceania Olympic Qualifiers after securing a commanding 5-0 victory over Tamyn Benny of New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Gaurav Solanki (57 kg) lost his pre-quarter final to the reigning world champion

Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov of Uzbekistan by a 4-1 split decision. Panghal had previously faced Kharkuu at the World Military Games in October 2019 where he ended up losing 5-0.

QUICK MOVEMENT

On Saturday, he held the upper hand in the first round as he constantly moved around the ring and made it difficult for his opponent to land his punches on target. This was reflected in the score at the end of the round in which the judges ruled in his favour by majority.

Kharkhuu however started stifling Panghal for space in the second round and started landing punches from close in. Panghal’s movements also seemed to have taken a toll on him as he started tiring out towards the end of the second round which the judges eventually ruled in Kharkuu’s favour by split decision.