Glasgow, Jul 29 (PTI) India’s boxing juggernaut gathered further momentum on Wednesday as five more pugilists stormed into the semifinals, taking the country’s tally of assured medals to nine and already surpassing its overall boxing haul from the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Sakshi Chaudhary (51kg), Arundhati Choudhary (70kg), Sachin Siwach (60kg), Ankush Panghal (80kg) and Narender Berwal (+90kg) joined Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), Priya Ghanghas (60kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg) and Jadumani Singh (55kg) in the last four of their respective categories at the ongoing Commonwealth Games.
India had finished with seven boxing medals in Birmingham — three gold, one silver and three bronze.
World champion Jaismine Lamboria (57kg) will play her quarterfinal later in the day.
While Sakshi blanked Northern Ireland’s Caitlin Fryers 5-0 and Sachin, ranked world No. 5, dismantled Botswana’s Treasure Moremi by the same margin, Arundhati had to dig deep for a 3-1 win over New Zealand’s Morgan Henderson.
Ankush was equally dominant, cruising to a 5-0 unanimous decision over Seychelles’ Jade Micock, while Asian Games bronze medallist Narender Berwal survived a bruising contest to edge Samoa’s Michael Seko 3-2.
Sakshi boxes to plan ============ Making full use of her height and reach advantage after moving down from 54kg, Sakshi controlled the contest from the opening bell, repeatedly catching Fryers with sharp jabs and straight punches.
“Her strategy was to fight from close range and she kept clinching. Mine was to box from long range, which is my forte,” Sakshi told PTI after the bout.
Fryers tried to make it a scrappy affair, charging forward and forcing frequent clinches. The two even tumbled to the canvas during a tangled exchange in the second round, but Sakshi never allowed the contest to drift away from her.
Using neat footwork and clean shot selection, she comfortably outboxed the Irishwoman to seal a unanimous victory.
Arundhati keeps her cool =============== If Sakshi enjoyed a smooth passage, Arundhati had anything but.
The New Zealander turned the contest into a physical battle, repeatedly pushing, wrestling and tying up the Indian in close quarters.
But Arundhati refused to be dragged into a brawl, instead picking her moments to land the cleaner scoring punches.
“She looked more like a wrestler than a boxer. Bohot giraya usne mujhe. In India I’m considered a strong boxer but I didn’t feel so today, she was literally throwing me around,” Arundhati said with a laugh after the bout.
“But I kept hitting scoring punches so I got the win.” Her composure under pressure proved decisive as she booked her place in the semifinals.
Sachin, Ankush cruise; Berwal survives thriller ============================== One of India’s strongest gold prospects, former world youth champion Sachin barely broke sweat against Moremi.
After a cautious opening, the Indian gradually took control with cleaner hooks, crisp counters and superior timing. Having negotiated tougher opponents in the earlier rounds, Sachin looked increasingly relaxed.
“When the difficult opponents are out of the way early on, you feel a lot freer,” he said.
Ankush was equally clinical against Micock.
The Indian’s sharp combinations, movement and defensive discipline left his opponent swinging at thin air for much of the bout.
He swept all five judges’ scorecards, winning 30-26 on one and 30-27 on the other four for a commanding unanimous verdict.
Berwal, however, had to earn his medal the hard way.
The heavyweight quarterfinal turned into a bruising battle marked by repeated referee interventions.
“There is no fun in getting a medal till you don’t win against tough opponents,” Berwal said.
Leading by an identical 4-1 margin after the first and second round, Berwal and two point deductions.
“After I was given the warning coaches told me ‘karo ya maro’, and I went all out,” he added.
He twice forced standing counts on Seko, including in the decisive final round, with his powerful combinations eventually proving enough for a narrow 3-2 split-decision victory. PTI APA APA TAP
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