CHENNAI: Amit Panghal recently had sparring sessions with rivals from Colombia, France and Azerbaijan during the Indian boxers' training camp in Assisi, Italy. The Colombia pugilist in question was Yuberjen Martinez, Rio Olympics silver medallist (light flyweight (49kg). Now, it looks like Panghal, who was handed a first-round bye during the official draw on Thursday, could face Martinez in his opening bout on July 31.
Despite being top seed, men's chief coach CA Kuttappa, during an interaction with this daily, had said Panghal won't have it easy even during the preliminary rounds. "Amit has had tough sparring sessions with boxers from Colombia, France. Based on his performance, we can see what he can do better to improve. He has had tough sessions against Yuberjen Martinez. So that should put him in good stead," Kuttappa had said.
Bearing in mind the draw, the coaches had put Panghal to test against the Colombian. And that could prove to be invaluable as the Haryana boxer could be up against Martinez provided the Colombian beats Rajab Otukile Mahommed of Botswana in the Round of 32 contest on Monday.
If Amit plays to his potential, he could go on to meet arch-nemesis Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan in the semifinals. There's also every possibility of meeting fourth seed Algerian Mohamed Flissi in the last-four stage.
Apart from Panghal, four other Indians — Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Pooja Rani (75kg), Simranjit Kaur (60kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg) — got byes and will start their campaign from the last-16 stage.
Taking part in her second Olympics, veteran MC Mary Kom (51kg) will be trading blows against Miguelina Garcia Hernandez of the Dominican Republic in the opening round. If Mary manages to win, she will be up against Colombia's Ingrit Valencia, who's No 3 seed, in the Round of 16. The London Olympics bronze medallist had beaten Valencia during the 2019 World Championships.
Like Mary, Ashish Kumar (75kg), Manish Kaushik (75kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg) will also begin their campaign from Round of 32 stage. Vikas will the first Indian to enter the ring. The Haryana boxer, who'll be taking part in his third Olympics, will face Japan's Sewonrets Quincy Mensah Okazawa. Vikas had put up a dominating show to beat Okazawa during the Asia/Oceania Olympic qualifiers in Amman, Jordan last year. That victory (5-0) had also earned Vikas a ticket to the Olympics. Vikas will face a stiff test in Roland Iglesias, 2012 Olympics champ (64kg), if he gets past the initial hurdle.
Manish, meanwhile, has a stiffer task in hand as he could face Cuba's Andy Cruz (third seed) in the second round. Cruz had ended Manish's fairytale run during the 2019 World Championships and had gone on to clinch the gold medal. Likewise, Asian Championships gold medallist Pooja Rani will also have to bring her A-game as she starts her campaign against Ichrak Chaib of Algeria. If he wins that bout, she will face China's No 2 seed Li Qian, Rio Olympics bronze medallist, in the quarterfinals.
Assam pugilist Lovlina will meet Germany's Nadine Apetz in the Round of 16 bout. Simranjit, who's No 4 seed, has a relatively easier draw and could meet top seed Kellie Harrington of Ireland in the semifinals.