BANGKOK (Thailand) : Indian boxer Amit Panghal beat Chuang Liu of China in the 51kg quarterfinal of the 2nd World Qualification Tournament held here on Sunday to book his quota for the Paris Olympics.
With a valiant 5-0 victory over Liu, the world championship silver medallist secured a spot to compete in the second Olympic Games. With this, Panghal has become the second male boxer to qualify for the mega event after Nishant Dev.
Nishant defeated Moldova’s Cebotari in a unanimous 5-0 decision at the World Boxing Qualifiers on Friday to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
After losing to world championship bronze medallist Deepak Bhoria in the selection process for the first two qualifying events, Panghal had just one chance to compete in the Olympics in Paris, and he took full advantage of the chance.
The Indian national champion came out all guns blazing in Round 2 and attacked relentlessly to grab the advantage, impressing all the five judges. The deciding round was a frantic display of boxing by both pugilists as they attempted to outpunch each other.
Panghal ultimately came out on top as he smartly manoeuvred his Chinese opponent and landed his combination on his face and body to clinch the bout with a unanimous verdict.
The boxer has become the fifth boxer to qualify for the Paris Olympics after Nishant (71kg), Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) in different categories.
India can clinch two more Paris Olympic berths later this evening with Jaismine to take on Mali’s Marine Camara in the women’s 57kg quarterfinals while Sachin Siwach will face Kyrgyzstan’s Munarbek Seiitbek Uul in the third place play-off in men’s 57kg category to decide who clinches the quota. (ANI)