India take on China in WSB, eye play-offs berth

Asian youth silver-medallist Ankush Dahiya will be the one to watch when Indian Tigers take on China Dragons in their final group stage clash of the World Series of Boxing here tomorrow, with a play-off berth at stake for them.

The Indian franchise will draw confidence from back-to-back wins in the home leg against Russia's Patriot Team and the China Dragons last week.

The Indians will be represented by Dahiya (60kg), who won a gold at the Ulaanbaatar Cup in Mongolia last year, India Open medallists Shaikh Salman (52kg) and Dinesh Dagar (69kg), Devanshu Jaiswal (81kg) and Parveen Kumar (+91kg).

The Chinese team will feature He JunJun (52kg), Wu Yufeng (60kg), Haishaer Taximaimaiti (69kg), Zhang Julei (81kg) and Alhemaiti Maimaiti (+91kg).

The top-eight teams will qualify for the play-offs and India are currently placed ninth with seven points from five ties. They are currently third in Group C, which is led by defending champions Astana Arlans of Kazakhstan. China Dragons are at the bottom of group placing, having failed to secure any win so far.

In their previous encounter, the Tigers secured a brilliant 4-1 win in Rohtak in front of a cheerful Indian crowd. The Chinese could not field boxers in two weight categories that time.

The top two teams from each group and the two strongest third-placed teams will qualify for the play-offs, which assume the format of four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and the grand final.

The boxers compete across five rounds, scored using the 10 Points Must system.

WSB boxers accounted for 23 Olympic medals at the Games, including six gold.