Boxing: Sakshi advances to quarters of Asian Olympic Qualifiers

After today's victory, Sakshi needs one more win to book the ticket to Tokyo.

Sakshi, a 2017 World Youth Champion will now take on IM Aeji of Korea, yet another youth world champion in 60kg category from the 2017 World Youth Championships in Guwahati.

In a performance that oozed maturity from the 19-year-old, Sakshi displayed her remarkable speed in the opening round as she took time to gauge her opponent.

The Thai’s left-hand punches made the difference in a tight first round and she carried that momentum to rain down blows on the Indian who visibly struggled in the face of the onslaught.

However, the strategy worked brilliantly for the young Indian as she saved her best for the last. Having conserved her energy in the second round, she looked fresher of the two in the final round.

A patient Sakshi intelligently used her right hand to counter the attack and that slowed down the Thai before she ran away with the win.

"I knew she is a strong boxer but we had planned it well, coaches had advised me to use counter-tactics against her and that really worked and I could land my punches cleanly on her," said the 19-year-old pugilist.

Later in the day, former World Championships bronze medallist Simranjit Kaur (60kg) will be in action as she starts her challenge against Kazakhstan’s Rimma Volossenko.

I(mage credit : UNI)