AIBA Men’s World C’ships: All eyes on Amit Panghal

The pugilist will lead India’s charge in the pre-quarterfinals.

File Photo: Amit Panghal is seeking his first medal at the World Championships.

Four Indian boxers will be in action in the pre-quarterfinals beginning on Tuesday at the AIBA Men’s World Championships in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Asian Games gold-medallist Amit Panghal leads India’s charge. He will compete in the 52kg category. Panghal is seeking his maiden World Championships medal.

Also in action will be Kavinder Singh Bisht (57kg). Bisht will contest his pre-quarterfinal bout against Finland’s Arslan Khataev. He had made it to the quarterfinals in the corresponding event last year.

Manish Kaushik (63kg) and Sanjeet (91kg) will also participate in the pre-quarterfinals. While Manish faces Mongolia’s fourth seed Chinzorig Baatarsukh, Sanjeet takes on Uzbekistan’s second seed Sanjar Tursunov, whom he had defeated at the 2018 India Open.

Negi bows out

On Monday, India’s Duryodhan Singh Negi (69kg) bowed out, losing to Jordan’s sixth seed Zeyad Eashash 1-4 in the second round. Negi’s lack of aggression early on in the bout cost him dearly. He tried to recover some of the lost ground by injecting more power into his punches, as evident in the final round, but it was not enough.

Negi had defeated Armenia’s Koryun Astoyan 4-1 in the first round. It was his maiden appearance at the competition.

Besides Negi, Brijesh Yadav (81kg) and Ashish Kumar (75kg) also bowed out. While Brijesh went down to Malkan Bayram of Turkey 1-4, Ashish Kumar was defeated by China’s Tanglathian Tuohetaerbieke 2-3 in his opening bout.