World silver-medallist Amit Panghal qualifies for Olympic Games
World silver-medallist Amit Panghal (52kg) has qualified for his maiden Olympic Games after edging out Carlo Paalam of Philippines in the quarterfinals of Asian Qualifiers for boxing on Monday. Panghal, who is the reigning Asian Championships and Asian Games gold-medallist, defeated Paalam by 1-4.
Earlier, Amit Panghal had beaten Carlo Paalam in the quarterfinals of the 2019 world championships and semifinals of the 2018 Asian Games. Meanwhile, the former junior world champion Sakshi Chaudhary (57kg) has failed to secure an Olympic berth after she was defeated by Korea's Im Aeji in the quarterfinals. The 19-year-old Sakshi Chaudhary lost 0-5 to Im Aeji, who is also a former world youth champion.
As per the norms, only semifinalists are entitled to an Olympic berth in the women's 57kg category of the ongoing event. Im's next shot at the Tokyo qualification would be world qualifiers which will take place in May as she is selected for it. Im will be facing Japan's 19-year-old Irie Sena, who outplayed world champion Nesthy Petecio of Philippines in a split decision.
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Meanwhile, in another quarterfinal bout, Manish Kaushik (63kg) will fight third seed Chinzorig Baatarsukh of Mongolia eyeing a spot in the Olympics. Chinzorig Baatarsukh is a silver-medallist of 2018 Asian Games, besides being a two-time podium finisher at the Asian Championships.
-PTC News
