Asian Games 2018: Amit Panghal enters 49kg boxing final; assured of silver

Debutant Indian boxer Amit Panghal was assured of a silver medal after reaching the final of the 49kg boxing bout in the 2018 Asian Games on Friday.

Amit, India’s only remaining boxer in the competition overcame Carlo Paalam in a fiercely-contested semi-final bout of the 49 kg category. He won 3-2 in the closely-fought bout to enter the finals.

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Earlier, Vikas Krishan was forced to withdraw from his 75kg semi-final bout following an eye injury that he sustained in the pre-quarterfinal match. He, however, won the bronze which is awarded to all the semi-finalists.

Facing a superior Carlo, the 22-year-old Armyman from Haryana lost the opening round but recovered well to assure himself at least a silver in the intercontinental event through a3-2 split verdict victory. He will next face Olympic champion and Worlds Championships runner-up Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan in the summit clash.

Amit turned the bout in his favour in the final three minutes of the contest where he connected few heavy blows on the Philippines boxer to be judged victorious.

“It wasn’t the best of starts by Amit, he took time to settle down, did well in the second round but the Filipino came back strongly in the third. Amit managed to get some clean ones to clinch it. It was very tense,” said Indian boxing’s Director Santiago Nieva to PTI.

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Talking of the debutant boxer facing an experienced Dusmatov in the final, Mr. Nieva said, “It’s time to beat Dusmatov.  Amit was not as strong as he is right now at the world championships, the strength difference was evident then but now, Amit is a lot stronger. I think Dusmatov will be under pressure tomorrow.”

It has also been a fine year for Amit, who earlier won back-to-back gold medals at the Indian Open and at the prestigious Strandja Memorial Tournament in Bulgaria.