New Delhi: Mohammad Hussamuddin (56kg) defeated Makhmud Sabyrkhan to give the Indian campaign a winning start at the 2021 ASBC Asian Boxing in Dubai on Monday.
Hussamuddin made a cautious start against the Kazakhstan pugilist. However, with a quick movement and an impressive counter attacking show the Indian held an advantage over his opponent to seal a 5-0 win to advance into the quarter-finals. The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist will face a solid challenge in the last-8 match from the top-ranked and current world champion Mirazizbek Mirzahalilov of Uzbekistan on Tuesday.

Today, World Championships bronze medal winner Simranjit Kaur and three other Indian boxers will look to secure medals for India as they will contest in the quarter-finals on the second day of the Dubai event.

Other Indian Boxers like Sakshi (54kg), Jasmine (57kg) and Sanjeet (91) will be competing in the last-8 stage of their respective categories.

The Olympic-bound pugilist Simranjit will take on Uzbekistan’s Raykhona Kodirova in the women’s 60kg quarter-final game. Sakshi, the two-time youth world champion, will lock horns with Ruhafzo Haqazarova of Tajikistan. Jasmine, who recently had a brilliant maiden international outing at the Boxam Tournament where she bagged the silver medal, will clash against Mongolian boxer Oyuntsetseg Yesugen in the women’s featherweight category.

In the men’s event, Sanjeet, who received a bye in the first round, will take on Jakhon Qurbonov of Tajikistan. Shiva Thapa (64kg) will also be seen contesting in a last-8 round match on Tuesday if he makes progress.

The on-going  Boxing Championships, which marks a return of international boxing in Asia after the Covid-19 pandemic, is hosting 150 boxers from 17 nations featuring strong boxing countries like India, Uzbekistan, Philippines and Kazakhstan. India’s best performance at the Asian Championship came in the last edition held in Bangkok in 2019 where they clinched an unprecedented 13 medals including two gold.