Satish Kumar warmed the hearts of Indian fans as he tamed Agnes Keddy Evans of Seychelles in the super heavyweight semifinals of the Spicejet India Open international boxing championship at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday.
Satish was one of the three Indian boxers to beat a foreigner to book a berth in the final. He did that with considerable poise against an opponent who had knocked out a formidable Uzbek boxer in the earlier round.
India Open Boxing: Indians poised for medals
The referee had to rescue the Seychelles boxer from further punishment in the second round, as Satish overcame a tough early phase to dominate the proceedings.
In the final, Satish will be up against Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan who subdued Cuban Yohandi Toirac Ortega with an unanimous decision.
Devanshu Jaiswal was the other Indian to beat Shabbos Negamatullaev of Tajikistan to make the final of the light heavyweight section. He will run into Osvary David Gutierrez of Cuba.
Manish Kaushik extended his domination over Olympian Shiva Thapa with a 5-0 victory, and will meet Battumur Misheelt of Mongolia who clawed his way past Ankush Dahiya with a 3-2 victory.
Sarita Devi: My focus is on winning gold medal
Dinesh had the best support from the vociferous home crowd as he beat the Commonwealth Games champion Manoj Kumar.
Of the 21 Indian men boxers in the semifinals, eight progressed into the final.
In the women’s section, the leading boxers Mary Kom and Sarita Devi made the final.
Mary was happy how she tackled the tall Mongolian Altansetseg Lutsaikhan with conviction after a bit of confusion in the first round, even though the judges ruled 4-1 in her favour.
She did not want to boast of her strong record against the Filipino Josie Gabuco, who pulled through to a 3-2 victory over Monika, Mary recalled that she had beaten her in Asian and World Championships in the past.
“You can’t relax in any round against any opponent. You have to be focused. Am ready to give my best’’, said Mary.
Sarita attacked in bursts and said that she was looking forward to fighting Olympic medallist Mira Marjut Potkonan of Finland in the final.
The Indian women also ensured two gold medals by setting up title clashes in the 54 kg and 69 kg sections.
It was an impressive performance by the Indian girls as 10 of them made the finals, out of the 19 who made it to the medal round. It also meant that India overall accounted for 40 of the 72 medals on offer.
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