Hours after Nishant Dev (71kg) became the first Indian male boxer to secure a spot for the Paris Games with a dominant quarterfinal victory in the Boxing Olympic qualifiers, Amit Panghal (51kg) and Sachin Siwach (57kg) also moved closer to clinching their Paris quotas in their respective categories on Friday (May 31).
Dev, a World Championships bronze medallist, narrowly missed an Olympic berth in the previous qualifiers. In Bangkok, he earned the quota by defeating Moldova’s Vasile Cebotari with a unanimous decision.
This marked India’s fourth quota place, with women boxers Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) having already secured their tickets to Paris.
Amit Panghal, Sachin Siwach eye Olympic berths
In the evening session, Panghal outperformed South Korea’s Kim Inkyu in the pre-quarterfinals. The 2019 World Championships silver medallist now stands just one win away from securing an Olympic quota.
Siwach also moved closer to an Olympic berth with an impressive 4-1 win over French boxer Samuel Kistohurry, a 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, in the quarterfinals. However, with only three quota places available in the 57kg weight category, he needs one more victory to confirm his place in Paris.
Women Pugilists disappoint
On the other hand, India’s hopes for a quota in the women’s 60kg and 66kg categories, as well as the men’s 92kg category, ended with Ankushita Boro, Arundhati Choudhary, and Sanjeet losing their respective bouts.
Boro lost 2-3 against Sweden’s Agnes Alexiusson in the 60kg quarterfinals, while Arundhati was defeated 1-4 by Slovakia’s Jessica Triebelova in the round of 16. In the last Indian bout of the day, Sanjeet lost 0-5 to Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist and 2021 world champion Alfonso Dominguez of Azerbaijan.
The 23-year-old Boro fought hard, but her Swedish opponent, a former European Games bronze medallist, used her experience to edge out the Indian. Boro, a former youth world champion, started slowly but adapted towards the end of the first round, using straight jabs effectively, which convinced one judge.
Trailing 1-4, Boro made a strong start in the second round with a combination of left jabs and right crosses. The Indian was dynamic, and the 28-year-old Alexiusson struggled to keep up. They entered the third round on equal footing, with Boro making early gains, but Alexiusson finished stronger, winning by split decision.
