Mary Kom, Amit Pangal set to begin quest for Tokyo Olympic berth

Indian boxers MC Mary Kom (51kg) and Amit Panghal (52kg) are set to enter the ring of Asian/Oceanian Olympic Qualifiers to seek a berth for the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics berth.

The six-time world champion, Mary Kom will face New Zealand's Tasmyn Benny in the first round. Kom is two wins away to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

Foreign Coach for Indian women's boxing Raffaele Bergamasco said that Mary Kom is training hard to win a medal at 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"Mary knows that this is her last Olympics and wants to do her best to close her dream with a medal. She has worked hard especially the reactivity work on the legs as well and has been working hard to be in good shape," Bergamasco said.

Amit Panghal will start off his campaign against Mongolia's Enkhmanadakh Kharkhuu after he was the first-round bye in the tournament.

India's head boxing coach CA Kuttappa said that Amit lost to Kharkhuu in World Military Games and would look to avenge the loss.

"Amit boxed against him before in Asian Games and beat him one-sided. And in the World Military Games, Amit lost by 5:0 to the same guy. Our plan is to create surprises in every round and am sure Amit would like to even scores as he faces his opponent tomorrow," CA Kuttappa said.

Earlier in the day, Indian Ambassador to Jordan, Anwar Haleem and Attache, Indian Embassy Puneet Ghai congratulated Mary Kom and Amit Panghal and wished them best of luck for the ongoing Olympic Qualifiers.