Nishio (Japan), Sep 27 (PTI) India’s Ankush Panghal and Parveen Hooda stormed into the semifinals of their respective weight categories to assure the country of two boxing medals at the ongoing Asian Games here on Sunday.
Ankush, who won Commonwealth Games gold last month in Glasgow, started proceedings with a 5-0 unanimous decision win over Tajikistan’s Nekruz Salimov in the men’s 80kg quarterfinal.
Parveen then defeated world championships silver medallist Navbakhor Khamidova of Uzbekistan by a similar margin to move into the women’s 65kg semifinals.
Parveen’s bronze medal from the previous edition was taken away after WADA suspended her for a whereabouts failure.
It was the Haryana boxer’s first bout of the ongoing edition as she had received a walkover in the previous round, but Parveen showed no signs of rust, expertly landing a flurry of combination punches on Khamidova.
Ankush, put up a dominant display to outclass Salimov and book his place in the semifinals.
Making his Asian Games debut, Ankush thus moved into the last four and is assured of at least a bronze medal.
The Haryana boxer started strongly, landing clean singles, including a straight left and a right hook, to keep Salimov on the back foot. The Tajik tried to counter, but his punches lacked the accuracy and impact to trouble Ankush, who took the opening round on all five cards.
Ankush maintained the pressure in the second round, continuing to attack and landing a steady stream of punches. Salimov tried to close the distance and find openings on the counter, but Ankush was quick to respond and largely kept control of the exchanges.
The Indian also showed good composure as the round progressed, refusing to get drawn into unnecessary exchanges and picking his moments to attack. He again won the round on all five cards.
With a comfortable lead heading into the final round, Ankush was content to conserve energy while keeping Salimov at bay. The Tajik attempted to force the pace and landed a few punches, but Ankush had already done enough to ensure the outcome.
The Indian negated Salimov’s attempts to change the course of the bout and comfortably closed out a 5-0 victory, becoming the first Indian boxer to assure a medal at these Games. PTI APA ATK APA APS
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