The final Boxing World Olympic qualification tournament concluded in Thailand which was the final opportunity for boxers around the globe to secure their Paris Olympic tickets.
Indian boxers put up a good show in Thailand winning three Quota places while narrowly missing two. Amit Panghal(Men’s 51 kg),Nishant Dev(men’s 71 kg) & Jaismine Lamboria(women’s 57kg) sealed their Paris Olympic tickets,while Sachin Siwach(men’s 57 kg) & Ankushita Boro(women’s 60 kg) did well but missed out on the quotas narrowly.
The first Olympic qualifier was a total disaster for India,with 8 out 9 Indian boxers failing to win their opening round matches. Nishant Dev was the sole bright spot who managed to reach the quota bout but suffered a loss, resulting in India returning with zero quota places from the event.
This performance sent shockwaves around the the sporting circle leading to the resignation of High performance director Bernard Dunne, while the Boxing federation was forced to make big changes in the squad for the final world qualifier.
India entered the Final Qualification tournament with a squad of 10 boxers,7 men and 3 women,with an expectation of a better performance, and in all honesty ,one can say that they didn’t disappoint.
AMIT MAKES IT TO HIS SECOND OLYMPICS
Moving into the World qualifier,Amit was one of the pre tournament favourites to win the Quota and he lived up to the expectations securing the 51 kg spot for the country.
Amit made a rather rusty start, surviving a scare against the young mexican Maurico Ruiz, winning it by a split 4:1 Decision.
The bout again exposed Amit’s weakness against boxers who resort to relentless attacks from close range, commonly termed as “Pressure fighters” in boxing terminology. The round of 16 match saw Amit facing a more favorable matchup in Korean Kim In Kyu which he comfortably won by Unanimous Decision. In the quota deciding quarter final,Amit faced a young and inexperienced Chinese Boxer in Liu Chuang. Liu started well with the judges rewarding him for his agressiveness with a 4-1 verdict in round 1.
This forced Amit to switch his gear dominating the 2nd round with a 5-0 verdict. The final round was much closer but Amit ultimately came out as the winner taking the bout and the Paris ticket with a unanimous decision win.
Amit will be heading towards his 2nd Olympics. He was a hot contender for gold at the previous Olympics in tokyo,but shockingly bowed out in the opening round. Having faced much ups and downs since then, Amit will be looking for redemption this time around.
NISHANT DEV SECURES THE FIRST MEN’S BOXING QUOTA
Nishant Dev secured india’s first Quota in men’s boxing,also the first of the tournament and he did so in a convincing fashion. He was undoubtedly the most impressive Indian boxer in the tournament.
He had narrowly missed the quota place in the 1st world qualifier, and was expected to win it this time and he didn’t disappoint. Starting with a comfortable 5:0 win against Armando Bigate of Guinea Bissau,he went on to win all his matches by unanimous decision, including a 1st round RSC win against Otgonbataar Erdene(MGL) in the round of 32, in a bout which was earlier being speculated as a potentially tough challenge.
The tall Southpaw known for his quick footwork and powerful combination punches unleashed all his might in the ring,winning the quota without hardly breaking a sweat.
Nishant will be making his Olympics debut at Paris
JAISMINE LAMBORIA BRINGS BACK THE 57KG QUOTA
Jaismine wasn’t even supposed to be in Thailand in the first place. She was a reserve in the 60kg category until an opportunity arrived when Parveen Hooda was suspended on accounts of whereabouts failures which unfortunately led her to relinquish the quota which she had won at the Hangzhou Asian games.
With just about a couple of weeks left for the qualifier,Jaismine had to loose weight on short notice to compete in the 57kg division.This was a tough task but she did exceedingly well to not just compete,but to reclaim the lost quota for the country.
She put up a superb display of boxing winning all her matches by unanimous decisions including the Quota deciding quarter final bout against Camara Marine of Mali. The southpaw boxer used her height advantage pretty well,while also using her range to devastating effect, keeping opponents at bay, unleashing attacks while maintaining safe distance from the opponent,in a typical outboxer approach.
Sachin Siwach and Ankushita Boro were the other two positives for India at this tournament. Sachin exceeded expectations reaching the semis beating world championhip medallist samuel Kistohurry of france in the quarter finals. He expectedly couldn’t get past Carlo Palaam (PHI) in the semis but did well in a loosing cause against Munarbek Seitbek(KGX) in the quota box off bout, a match which can be termed as a controversial decision. Ankushita on the other hand lost a close match against the eventual quota winner Agnes Alexiusson (SWE).
Again the result of the match became a subject of much debate,with Ankushita loosing the match despite winning 2 out of the 3 rounds. As a whole, the overall performance of the squad was satisfactory with 9/10 boxers winning atleast one bout,with Narender Berwal (+92kg) being the sole exception.
Overall, Indian boxers came back with 3 quotas which takes the total number of boxing quotas to six. The list of paris qualified boxers are as follows:
Mens Boxing
Amit Panghal(51kg)
Nishant Dev(71kg)
Womens Boxing
Nikhat Zareen(50kg)
Preeti Pawar(54kg)
Jaismine Lamboria(57kg)
Lovlina Borgohain(75kg)
