Boxer Ashish Kumar secures 5-0 victory over Kan Chia-Wei

After Gaurav Solanki's commanding victory, Indian boxer Ashish Kumar (75kg) also made a winning start in the Asian/Oceanian Olympic Qualifiers as he defeated Chinese Taipei's Kan Chia-Wei by 5-0 here on Tuesday.

Kumar displayed an impressive performance in the match as he completely dominated his opponent. Chia-Wei failed to put up much of a resistance and lost his stamina in the final round against the sprightly Kumar.

Kumar will now face fourth seed Bekzhigit Uulu Omurbek of Kyrgyzstan on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Solanki (57kg) thrashed Kyrgyzstan's national boxing champion Akylbek Esenbek Uulu by 5-0.

From the very beginning, Solanki started landing punches on Uulu and played furiously. However, the second round witnessed a tough competition between both boxers with Kyrgyz boxer showing more aggression but Solanki's patience helped him sail through that.

Solanki was declared the winner by points but will need to be at his best as he next faces the top seed and world champion Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov of Uzbekistan. The bout is scheduled to take place on March 7.

Women's boxers will begin their quest for the Tokyo Olympic berth on Wednesday. Simranjit Kaur (60kg) will take on Kazakhstan's Rimma Volossenko while Sakshi (57kg) will face Thailand's Nilawan Techasuep.

There are eight men and five women from India who are in the hunt for a coveted Tokyo Olympic berth at this continental event, being conducted by the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Boxing Task Force.