Five Indian pugilists enter Asian Boxing quarters

Shiva Thapa (60kg) is now one win away from securing a record fourth medal at the Asian Boxing Championships as five Indian boxers entered the quarter-finals on day three of this prestigious continental tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, on Sunday.

The Assam pugilist was at his destructive best and outpunched Kyrgyzstan's Seitbek Uulu M 4-1 to march into the quarter-finals.

Four-time Asian Championships gold medallist Sarita Devi began her hunt for sixth medal at this elite event in an impressive fashion. The 37-year-old blanked Korea's Gwon Sujin and stormed into the quarter-finals by dint of RSC (referee stop contest) in round three. She proved too dominant for her opponent.

Agile and sharp as ever, Asian Games gold medallist Amit Panghal opened his campaign and made it to the last-eight with a 5-0 decimation of Taipei's Tu Po-Wei in his first continental competitive bout in the 52kg.

Panghal has continued his sublime form this year after starting the new season with a glittering gold from the Strandja Cup and hope to record his second consecutive victory over the reigning Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov in the highly-anticipated quarter-final showdown.

Former world junior champion Nikhat Zareen (51kg) was at her imperious best in her opening bout against Cambodia's Srey Pov Nao. The Telangana pugilist who started the season with a gold medal at the Strandja Cup advanced to the quarters by RSC in round two as her rival couldn't contain the flurry of punches.

In men's 69kg, Ashish continued his scintillating run with a 4-1 win over Abdurakhman Abdurakhmanov of Kyrgyzstan in a split verdict to book his quarter-final berth.

The only disappointment for the Indian contingent during the day was defeat of Brijesh Yadav in 81kg. Yadav's opponent Dilshodbek Ruzmetov of Uzbekistan was declared 4-0 winner after he received a cut in round two of the bout. That necessitated termination of the match and based on the two rounds of performances, judges voted for the Uzbek.

--IANS

kk/pcj