Tokyo Olympics-bound Indian boxers Amit Panghal and Vikas Krishan booked a spot in the semi-final in their respective categories of the Asian Boxing Championships 2021 in Dubai on Wednesday.
Three out of five Indian boxers moved to the semi-finals on the day. India are now assured of 15 medals at the meet – their highest-ever at any Asian championship – surpassing the 13 they achieved in the 2019 edition.
Panghal, the reigning Asian champion in the 52kg division, started the day with a hard-fought win over Mongolia’s Kharkhuu Enkhmandakh.
Later, Tokyo-bound Olympian Vikas Krishan (69kg) edged past Iran’s Moslem Maghsoudi Amiri by a 4-1 split verdict while lightweight boxer Varinder Singh defeated Philippines’ Jere Samuel De by unanimous decision.
Vikas will face the top seed and reigning Asian Games and Asian championships gold medallist Baturov Bobo Usmon of Uzbekistan and Varinder Singh will square off against Iran’s Daniyal Shahbakhsh in their respective semi-finals.
List of 15 players who made to medal round.
Men Boxer
- Amit Panghal (52kg)
- Shiva Thapa (64kg)
- Varinder Singh (60kg)
- Vikas Yadav (69kg)
- Sanjeet (91kg)
Women Boxer
- Simranjit (60kg)
- Sakshi (54kg)
- Jaismine (57kg)
- MC Mary Kom (51kg)
- Lalbuatsaihi (64kg)
- Lovlina Borgohain (69kg)
- Pooja Rani (75kg)
- Monika (48kg)
- Saweety (81kg)
- Anupama (+81kg)
All the 10 Indian women boxers, including six-time world champion Mary Kom, will be seen in action on the fourth day of the event on Thursday as they will play their respective semi-final matches.
