Amit Panghal on Sunday became the fifth Indian boxer and the second men from country to seal a Paris Olympic quota as he shrugged off a slow start and earned a unanimous 5:0 verdict against China’s Liu Chuang in the 51kg quarterfinals of the Boxing World Qualifiers. (More Sports News)
India had earned three quotas at the 2022 Asian Games through Nikhat Zareen (women’s 50kg), Preeti (54kg) and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) by virtue of all of them finishing on the podium in Guangzhou, China.
Nishant Dev became the first Indian male boxer to secure a Paris berth earlier this week when he defeated Moldova’s Vasile Cebotari in the 71kg quarterfinals.
Panghal added to that list on Saturday with a fine display of tenacity and aggression against the Chinese, who had drawn first blood by claiming Round 1 4:1 on the back some fine punches.
But the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist 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.
This was Panghal's last shot at qualifying for the Paris Games after he lost out to world championship bronze medallist Deepak Bhoria in the selection assessment for the earlier two qualifying events.
Later in the day, Jaismine Lamboria (57kg) and Sachin Siwach (57kg) will also compete with an eye on securing Olympic quotas.
