India assured of four more medals at Asian Boxing Championships
Four Indian boxers, including three women, advanced to the semifinals with impressive victories as India's assured medal tally swelled to 12 in the Asian Championships in Dubai. Sanjeet (91kg), Sakshi (54kg), Jasmine (57kg), and the Olympic-bound Simranjit Kaur (60kg) joined Shiva Thapa (64kg) in the last four stages following late-night wins in their quarterfinal bouts on Tuesday. Here are more details.
India already has seven medals under its belt
They added to the seven medals, including that of six-time world champion MC Mary Kom (51kg), that was assured on the day of draws. India's open gold-winner Sanjeet defeated Jasur Qurbonov of Tajikistan by 5-0 to enter the semifinals in the men's draw along with Thapa. Sanjeet's next opponent is last year's silver-medalist Sanjar Tursunov of Uzbekistan who has been seeded third this year.
Here is how women boxers performed in the quarterfinals
In the women's competition, Sakshi got the better of Tajikistan's Ruhafzo Haqazarova 5-0 to set up a clash against top seed Dina Zholaman of Kazakhstan. Jasmine edged past Mongolia's Oyuntsetseg Yesugen 4-1 and will now square off against Vladislava Kukhta of Kazakhstan. Kaur, who recently recovered from COVID-19, defeated Raykhona Kodirova of Uzbekistan 4-1. Her next opponent is also a Kazakh, Rimma Volossenko.
Remaining Olympic-bound men boxers to kick-start their campaign today
India's Olympic-bound men pugilists Amit Panghal (52kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg), and Ashish Kumar (75kg) will kick-start their campaign on Wednesday. A silver-medalist at the World Championships and defending champion Panghal will face Mongolia's Kharkhuu Enkhmandakh. The two fought at the 2020 Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Amman, Jordan where the Indian had triumphed in a grueling contest.
India to play against Iran and Kazakhstan today
Asian Games champion Krishan will square off against Iran's Moslem Malamir, while last edition's silver-winner Kumar will face World Championships and Asian Games silver-medalist Kazakhstan's Abilkhan Amankul. Notably, the championships were shifted from New Delhi to Dubai due to the devastating COVID-19 situation across India.
