Amit Panghal, Jaismine Lamboria and Sagar Ahlawat swatted aside their opponents in the Commonwealth Games 2022 boxing quarterfinals at the National Exhibition Centre to assure India of six medals in the sport.
Mohammad Hussamuddin, Nitu Ghanghas and Nikhat Zareen had advanced to the semis on Wednesday.
Panghal beat Scotland’s Lennon Mulligan 5-0 in a unanimous decision in the men’s flyweight 51kg quarterfinal, while Jaismine piled misery on Troy Garton of New Zealand to win 4-1 in the women’s lightweight 60kg.
The win would come as a relief to Panghal after the disappointment in Tokyo, where he lost to Rio Olympics silver medallist Yuberjen Martinez of Colombia 4-1 in the round of 16.
Panghal, in the red corner, was an image of calm as Mulligan looked to land some heavy blows early in the first round. The 26-year-old Indian, however, moved about in the ring and displayed nimble footwork to successfully dodge them. Panghal’s signature left-arm jabs only came to life in the closing moments as he managed to land a few clean hits to leave the arena buzzing. The judges ruled 4-1 in his favour.
Panghal stifled Mulligan’s charge in the second round as well, employing the same tactic. Starting with an all-out defence, Panghal broke free as the clock ran down and floored Mulligan, Scotland’s youngest boxer in CWG 2022.
The third round was a mere formality with Mulligan frantically trying to impress the judges with a flurry of punches. Panghal’s experience came through as he safely evaded his opponent’s attacks to get a unanimous 5-0 ruling.
In the other contest, Garton went for the first attack. The Indian, mostly defensive, landed the odd punch to win the first round 5-0.
The second round saw Jaismine in a bit of trouble as Garton kept pushing her to the edge of the ring in an attempt nullify the former’s height advantage. With the New Zealand boxer landing three clean punches, the judges were split at 3-2.
Asked if she was feeling any pressure, Jaismine said, “Not at all. I was doing alright.”
Jaismine hung back again in the third round to use her reach to good effect. Garton tried to make up for the deficit but made errors and left her defence exposed, leading to a 4-1 ruling in the Indian’s favour.
“Things went well. Now I will aim for the gold medal. Coach sir (Bhaskar Bhatt) told me I am tall so I should let her come at me,” Jaismine said.
Meanwhile, Keddy Evans Agnes of Seychelles was no match for Sagar and made the mistake of going for an aggressive approach against the Indian. Sagar pushed his opponent on the backfoot with a series of crosses, hooks and jabs to win 5-0 in a unanimous decision.
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