CHENNAI: It was a day to remember for Indian boxing. Four men entered the ring and all of them won their respective fights to march into the last eight of the AIBA Men’s World Championships in Ekaterinburg on Tuesday. That means they are just one bout away from assuring themselves a medal, a rare feat engineered just four times in 20 years of the competition.
The first one to enter the ring was Asian champ Amit Panghal (52kg). The No 2 seed lived up to his billing and won his bout against Turkey’s Batuhan Citfci without a fuss. Panghal seemed to be in a different league as Citfci, despite his height advantage, was left chasing shadows. Panghal’s dominance was evident in the final verdict (5-0 to his name).
Then, it was Manish Kaushik’s turn. But unlike Panghal, who had entered the fight as favourite, Kaushik stepped inside the ring against Baatarsukh Chinzorig of Mongolia — No 4 seed — as the underdog. But once the 63kg affair commenced, Kaushik had his more touted rival on his toes with some strong punches. Kaushik never let the intensity level drop and eventually won the contest 5-0. “I sat with my coaches and devised a strategy for him and I stuck to that strategy throughout the bout. I’m glad that it worked out,” he said.
National chief coach CA Kuttappa was a delighted man and opened up about said strategy. “We had studied the Mongolian boxer well and we had seen him up close during the Asian Championships. We wanted Kaushik to go for technical punches, aim for his body and his face. And he carried out the plan to perfection,” the Dronacharya awardee said.
Soon after Kaushik’s upset victory, S Sanjeet stunned Sanjar Tursunov, 2017 Worlds bronze medallist in the 91kg class. The Rohtak boxer, who’s making his Worlds bow, operated like a seasoned pro. The manner in which he kept his calm towards the end, keeping his rival at bay was noteworthy. Interestingly, Sanjeet had beaten Tursonov in the 2018 India Open final. “Having beaten him in the past, Sanjeet had the confidence going into the bout. But World Championships is a different task. He executed his game plan well. He was throwing good punches from outside,” Santiago Nieva, India high performance director noted.
In the end, the onus was on Kavinder Singh Bisht (57kg) to make it a perfect day. And he didn’t disappoint. Exchanging fiery punches against Arslan Khataev of Finland, he also suffered a cut due to an unintentional headbutt by Khataev. But like Sanjeet, he held firm under pressure to win by split verdict. Kuttappa was hopeful that Kavinder will recover before his next bout. “The doctors are assessing his situation and we are working on his recovery. We expect the other three boxers to go the distance as well,” he said.
India had three quarterfinalists in the last edition with one eventually going on to bag a medal — Gaurav Bidhuri won bronze in 2017. The remaining four will be hoping to better that and make history.