New Delhi: Indian boxer Sanjeet put up a brilliant performance against the three-time Asian champion Vassiliy Levit in the men’s 91kg summit clash to clinch the second gold for the country at the Asian Championships in Dubai on Monday.
Sanjeet notched up a clinical 4-1 victory against the Rio Olympic silver medallist Kazkhak pugilist as Indian squad concluded their Dubai campaign with the highest ever 15 medals, featuring two gold, five silver and eight bronze. On the other hand, Amit Panghal (52kg) and Shiva Thapa (64kg) picked silver medals after losing their respective finals.
On Sunday Pooja Rani (75kg) won country’s first gold at the Championship. Experienced campaigner Mary Kom (51kg), Panghal, Thapa, Lalbuatsaihi (64kg) and Anupama (+81kg) earned silver medals. However, eight boxers—Vikas Krishan (69kg) Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Jaismine (57kg), Sakshi Chaudhary (54kg), Monika (48kg), Saweety (81kg) and Varinder Singh (60kg) – settled for bronze at the event as the 19-member Indian squad pulled up the India’s best-ever performance surpassing the previous best of 13 medals attained during the 2019 edition in Bangkok.
“This has been a challenging year for all of us and despite all the uncertainties our boxers had to undergo, it is absolutely heartening to see them ending the Asian Championships campaign with 15 medals including 2 golds and some close decisions that of Amit Panghal and Mary Kom in the finals. Our boxers have yet again ensured a record-breaking feat and am extremely proud of each one of them,” BFI President Ajay Singh said.
“These performances I am sure will motivate all our boxers to put more efforts ahead of the Olympics and help realise the Mission 2021 by winning medals in Tokyo” he further added.
During India’s first bout, earlier on Monday night, defending champion Panghal lost to reigning Olympics champion Zoirov Shakhobidin in the men's 52kg final. The World Championships silver medallist fought hard against the world champion but it didn't prove to be enough for the Indian to bring down the Uzbek pugilist as he endured a narrow 3-2 loss with 29-28, 28-29, 28-29, 28-29, 30-27 scoreline.
During a high-octane 52kg final showdown between top two seeds, both the pugilists displayed great skills and attacked right from start. The second round featured Panghal taking time as he was more accurate, landing timely and powerful punches along with being sharp in defense as well.
However, Shakhobidin bounced back well in time and managed to pull the match in his favour. The Indian team, however lodged a protest against the verdict contesting round 2 decision but the Jury Commission did not accept it as Panghal settled for silver medal.
Later Thapa also faced a narrow loss by split 2-3 against the Asian Games silver medallist Baatarsukh Chinzorig of Mongolia. The world championships bronze medallist is the only second men’s pugilist in the world to bag five medals at the Asian Championships. The 27-year-old has previously picked gold in 2013, silver in 2017 and two bronze in 2015 and 2019.
