Amit Panghal, Shiva Thapa reach finals of Asian Boxing Championship

India's star boxer Amit Panghal powered into the final of the Asian Boxing Championships with a 5-0 win over Saken Bibossinov.

In a repeat of the 2019 World championships final, Panghal (left) will meet World and Olympic champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan.

Amit Panghal and Shiva Thapa gave impressive performances to make it to the finals of the Asian boxing championships here on Friday.

Defending champion Panghal, who had beaten Saken Bibossinov in the World championships semifinals, again showed his supremacy over the Kazakh to record a 5-0 victory in a 52kg last-four fight.

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Panghal used his right-left combination to make a fine start. The Kazakh fought back in the second round before Panghal smartly controlled the final round to emerge as the winner.

In a repeat of the 2019 World championships final, Panghal will meet World and Olympic champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan.

Thapa moved around well and landed some accurate combinations to get the better of top seed Bakhodur Usmonov 4-0 in a high-quality 64kg semifinal bout.

Three Indian women, Lalbuatsiahi (64kg), Pooja Rani (75kg) and Anupama (+81kg), also reached the finals on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, the result of the 54kg semifinal contest between Sakshi Chaudhary and Dina Zholaman was overturned following Kazakhstan’s appeal to review the bout. Top seed Dina was declared the winner with a 3-2 verdict.

However, However, Vikas Krishan, also bound for the Tokyo Games, endured a split decision loss to top seed and defending champion Baturov Bobo-Usmon of Uzbekistan.

The bout lasted less than one round as Vikas' eye injury, sustained in the previous bout, aggravated forcing the referee to stop the contest.

Also ending with a bronze was tournament debutant and national champion Varinder Singh (60kg) after a high-intensity clash against Iran's Daniyal Shahbakhsh. The Indian lost 2-3 after fighting his heart out.

The results:

Men: Semifinals: 52kg: Amit Panghal bt Saken Bibossinov 5-0; 60kg: Varinder Singh lost to Daniyal Shahbaksh (Iri) 3-2; 64kg: Shiva Thapa bt Bakhodur Usmonov (Tjk) 4-0.

On Thursday:

Women: Semifinals: 64kg: Lalbuatsiahi bt Noura Almutairi (Kuw) ABD; 69kg: Lovlina Borgohain lost to Navbakhor Khamidova (Uzb) 3-2; 75kg: Pooja Rani w.o. Munkhbat Myagmarjargal (Uzb) 3-2; 81kg: Saweety lost to Fariza Sholtay (Kaz) 4-1; +81kg: Anupama bt Mokhira Abdullaeva (Uzb) 4-1.