Panghal, Varinder, Vikas enter semis; India assured of 15 medals at Asian Boxing Championships

India's star boxer Amit Panghal advanced to the semifinals and assured himself of a second successive medal at the Asian Boxing Championships.

File picture of Amit Panghal.

World championships silver medalist Amit Panghal, Varinder Singh and Vikas Krishan advanced to the semifinals to increase India’s medal count in the Asian boxing championships in Dubai on Wednesday.

Panghal recorded a hard-fought 3-2 win over Kharkhuu Enkhmandakh of Mongolia in a men’s 52kg quarterfinal match.

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Panghal bobbed and moved well even as Enkhmandakh landed some head shots. The Indian breached the Mongol’s defence and delivered some well-directed punches to eke out a narrow win and ensure his third successive Asian medal.

In the last-four, top seed Panghal will take on Kazakh boxer Saken Bibossinov, whom he beat in the 2019 World championships semifinals.

Open-guarded southpaw Varinder (60kg) used his excellent footwork and fine combination of jabs and left shots to trounce Samuel Dela Cruz of Philippines 5-0 in a quarterfinal bout.

Vikas (69kg) defied an eyebrow bruise to see off hard-punching Iranian Moslem Maghsoudi 4-1. The former Worlds medallist used his counterattacks well to stay ahead of the rough Iranian.

Following Shiva Thapa, Sanjeet (91kg) and women boxers Sakshi Chaudhary (54kg), Jasmine (57kg) and Simranjit Kaur (60kg) beat their respective opponents to reach the semifinals on Tuesday night.

Sanjeet got the better of Jasur Qurbonov of Tajikistan with a 5-0 verdict.

World championships bronze medallist Simranjit defeated Uzbek boxer Raykhona Kodirova 4-1, while Sakshi beat Ruhafzo Haqazarova of Tajikistan 5-0. Jasmine beat Mongolian Oyuntsetseg Yesugen 4-1.