Paris, Jul 30 (PTI) The seasoned Amit Panghal (51kg) and debutant Jaismine Lamboria’s (57kg) Olympic campaign went up in smoke as both suffered demoralising defeats in their respective bouts here on Tuesday.
The-28-year-old Panghal suffered a shock 1-4 split verdict to Zambia’s Patrick Chinyemba, an opponent he had defeated en-route his Commonwealth Games title-winning run in 2022, in the round of 16 bout.
Lamboria, on the other hand, went down by a 0-5 unanimous verdict to Tokyo silver medallist Phillipines’ Nesthy Petecio in the 57kg round of 32 bout.
Lamboria, who has dropped down from her 60kg weight class, was simply no match to the veteran Fillipino.
Despite a considerable height advantage, Lamboria was unable to connect most of her punches as the Fillipino, a former world champion, moved around the ring and expertly ducked the Indian’s attacks.
Another Olympics another pre-quarters exit for Panghal ================================= Panghal’s campaign at the Paris Olympics mirrored his experience at the Tokyo Games, as the former world number one once again made a pre-quarterfinals exit.
Like the Tokyo Olympics, Panghal, who qualified for the ongoing Games in the last qualifier, got an opening round bye.
The 2019 world championship silver medallist was put under pressure by the sprightly Zambian, the reigning African Games champion, in the opening round itself.
The Indian paid the price for his defensive approach as the third seeded Chinyemba assumed the role of the aggressor.
Panghal, found it tough to respond to the 23-year-old’s persistence, failed to counter-attack in the bout, struggled with his footwork, and looked a pale shadow of his sharp and aggressive self in the lacklustre outing.
Trailing on three cards, Panghal attacked from the get go but had trouble connecting punches as Chinyemba edged him out in the second round as well.
Both boxers were involved in big exchanges with Panghal trying to apply pressure in the final three minutes but Chinyemba made sure that there was no let up in the intensity and took the win.
Panghal had been away from the national team since his Tokyo exit selected for the final Olympic qualifying event after Deepak Bhoria failed to earn a quota in the previous two qualifiers.
Source: PTI News
