NEW DELHI: After winning the 2nd World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok on Sunday, boxer Amit Panghal, who finished second in the world championships, earned an Olympic quota and qualified for the Paris Games.
Panghal, the only male silver medallist from India in the global tournament, defeated Chuang Liu of China 5-0 in a fierce match to earn a spot at his second Olympic Games.
As a result, he becomes one of the four athletes-Nishant Dev (71 kg), Nikhat Zareen (50 kg), Preeti Pawar (54 kg), and Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg). They've all reserved spots for the Olympics.
The 2018 Asian Games champion Panghal made the most of his one and only chance to compete in the Olympics in Paris.
Panghal's struggles have been exacerbated by the fact that he was demoted from the national squad by world championship bronze medallist Deepak Bhoria, who participated in the two previous qualifying tournaments, based on the BFI's grading criteria.
The Haryana boxer's lone major competition since the Tokyo Olympics was the 2022 Commonwealth Games, when he took home the gold medal.
Earlier in the year, he also won the renowned Strandja Memorial tournament.
The quarterfinal fight got off to a fairly calm start as the boxers tried to gauge one another. Liu attacked Panghal after the first minute of the fight. The Indian, who was shorter than average, had trouble finding his range. He did manage to hit a few scoring shots, but he didn't play much.
Panghal, a three-time medallist at the Asian Championship, altered his approach after falling behind 1-4. He launched an offensive, making a good start to the second round.
The Chinese boxer returned fire, landing some counterpunches, but Panghal persisted in landing punches and closed the round strongly, convincing the panel of five judges to give him the benefit of the doubt.
During the final three minutes, Liu altered his strategy and approached Panghal more closely. The bout was intense, with both competitors exchanging punches and going at it head-to-head. Ultimately, the former world champion won.
Later in the day, Olympic quotas will also be sought after by Jaismine Lamboria (57 kg) and Sachin Siwach (57 kg).
(With PTI inputs)
