Former World Championships bronze medallist Simranjit Kaur (60kg) bagged silver after going down to former two-time Asian champion Oh Yeon Ji of South Korea 0-5 in the final of Asian/Oceanian Olympic Qualifiers in Amman, Jordan as Indian boxers finished their campaign with two silver and six bronze medals.
Commonwealth Games champion Vikas Krishan (69kg) was the other Indian who had to settle for silver after a left eye injury forced him to give a walkover to Jordan’s Zeyad Eashash on medical advice.
The cut above his left eye hampered the former Asian Games champion’s training and also prevented him from making the weight for the bout in the morning, that necessitated the pull-out.
Olympic-bound Mary Kom (51kg), Amit Panghal (52kg), Pooja Rani (75kg), Ashish Kumar (75kg), Satish Kumar (+91kg), and Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) took the bronze from this event, where India bagged their highest-ever haul of nine Olympic quotas.
Earlier in the day, World Championships bronze medallist Manish Kaushik (63kg) won the ninth Tokyo Olympic quota for India when he upset the Commonwealth Games champion and second seed Harrison Garside of Australia 4-1 in the box-off bout. It helped India surpass the eight they had earned at the 2012 London Games. The nine quotas also ensured that this was India’s highest ever qualification from a single qualifier.
India has a chance to add further with the boxers, who failed in their quest at the Asian Qualifiers, getting one more opportunity to realize their Olympic dream at the World Qualifiers to be held in Paris in May.
India’s brilliant performance at the Asian Qualifiers also propelled them to the top position, where they are tied with Kazakhstan among 10 nations.
“It is a moment of pride for Indian Boxing. For the first time ever, 9 Indian pugilists have qualified for the Olympics and that too at the first qualifying event. We still have the World Qualifiers in May and I am confident that India will qualify in all 13 categories,” said Boxing Federation of India President, Ajay Singh.
“Our mission is to win Olympic medals and these 9 qualifications are an indication of the potential that Indian boxers possess. Having qualified in the first qualification event will give them a big boost and will motivate them to work harder. On our part, we along with the Sports Ministry and SAI will ensure that we provide them with the best possible infrastructure and support to meet the end objective,” he added.
Having lost in the quarter-finals, Kaushik was presented with one more chance of securing his first appearance at the quadrennial Games with the top six from 63kg eligible for Olympic quotas. This time he made no mistake.
In a brutal box-off bout that saw Garside fighting with a bloodied face, Kaushik endured some hard blows and a stiff challenge from his opponent to fulfil his Olympic dream. The 4-1 win also helped him avenge his 2018 Commonwealth Games final defeat to Garside.
Sachin Kumar (81kg), however, did not have the same fortune as he was blanked 0-5 by Tajikistan’s Shabbos Negmatulloev in the box-off final.
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