Asian Boxing Championship
Asian Boxing Championship : Thapa, Hussamuddin make winning start, Sumit suffers defeat
Dubai/UNI: Indian boxers Shiva Thapa (64kg) and Mohammad Hussamuddin (56kg) started their 2021 Asian Boxing Championships on a winning note while Sumit Sangwan (81kg) made an early exit here.
Commonwealth Games bronze-winner Hussamuddin registered a 5-0 victory against Kazakhstan's Makhmud Sabyrkhan on Monday to progress into the quarter-finals of the Championship which is jointly hosted by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and UAE Boxing Federation.
Hussamuddin might face a strong challenge in the last-8 match from the top-seed and reigning world champion Mirazizbek Mirzahalilov of Uzbekistan on Tuesday.
The 2013 Asian champion Thapa also made into the quarter-finals after he pulled off a fine show and outpunched Kyrgyzstan's Dmitrii Puchinn 5-0 in the 64kg opening round bout. Shiva will face Nader Odah of Kuwait in the quarter-finals on Day 2.
However, another Indian boxer Sumit Sangwan lost 5-0 in an intense fight against Iran's Meysam Gheshlaghi in his opening round match.
Alongside Hussamuddin and Thapa, the World Championship bronze medallist Simranjit Kaur and three other Indian pugilists will also look to confirm medals for the country as they will fight in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Sakshi (54kg), Jasmine (57kg) and Sanjeet (91kg) are the other Indians who will be in action in the last-8 stage of their respective categories at the prestigious event.
The Olympic-bound boxer Simranjit will square up against Uzbekistan’s Raykhona Kodirova in the women’s 60kg quarter-final bout, while the two-time youth world champion Sakshi will take on Ruhafzo Haqazarova of Tajikistan.
In the women's featherweight category, Jasmine, who recently had a glorious maiden international outing at the Boxam Tournament where she clinched the silver medal, will be up against Mongolian boxer Oyuntsetseg Yesugen.
In the men's section, Sanjeet, who received a bye in the first round, will face a challenge from Jakhon Qurbonov of Tajikistan.
The on-going Championships, which marks a return of international boxing in Asia post Covid-19 pandemic, has been witnessing the presence of 150 pugilists from 17 counties including strong boxing nations such as India, Uzbekistan, Philippines and Kazakhstan.
India's best recorded performance came at the Asian Championship edition held in 2019 at Bangkok where they secured an unprecedented 13 medals including two gold.
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