Sanjeet triumphed 4-1 over Levit, who was in a quest to win his fourth gold of the tournament.
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Asian Boxing Championship: Sanjeet (91kg) fetched the lone gold among Indian men boxers in a victory against Kazakhstan’s Olympic-medallist Vassiliy Levit. In various other categories, defending champion Amit Panghal (52kg) and Shiva Thapa (64kg) settled for silver medals.
Sanjeet triumphed 4-1 over Levit, who was in a quest to win his fourth gold of the tournament. Levit is an Olympic silver-medallist.
With 15 medals in this edition, India has put on a stellar show and surpassed its 2019 performance. They had bagged 13 medals in all, including two gold.
The Army man, who is a former India Open gold-medallist, won the first two rounds in an evenly-contested bout before Levit fought back in the final three minutes.
Panghal lost 2-3 to known nemesis Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan in what was a repeat of the 2019 world championship final, which had also ended in Zoirov’s favour.
India sought a review of the second round of the bout but the protest was rejected by the jury which stuck to the original decision.
“I dedicate this silver medal to my coach Anil Dhanker. I wish he was here with me in Dubai,” Panghal tweeted referring to his personal coach.
Thapa (64kg) also lost by the same margin to Mongolia’s Baatarsukh Chinzorig, the reigning Asian Games silver-medallist. This was Thapa’s fifth successive podium finish and second silver at the showpiece.
Both the contests had the Indian boxers doing most things right but not getting the judges’ nod.
The Panghal-Zoirov clash was worth all the hype that surrounded it. Both Olympic-bound boxers engaged in a fast exchange of punches from the very first round.
Zoirov claimed the opening round. But in the second round, Panghal raised his game by a notch, pace inceased and landing his left straights precisely. Zoirov, on the other hand, struggled to connect.
The two went all out in the third round but it was Panghal who was more impressive with his body shots despite an injured eye.
Thapa was equally impressive against Chinzorig, rallying brilliantly after losing the opening round. But he lost the all-important final round in a fight that became messy due to close-range punching.
“This has been a challenging year for all of us and despite all the uncertainties our boxers had to undergo. It is absolutely heartening to see them ending the Asian Championships campaign with 15 medals including two golds…,” said Boxing Federation of India President Ajay Singh.
“Our boxers have yet again ensured a record-breaking feat and I am extremely proud of each one of them. These performances I am sure will motivate all our boxers to put more efforts ahead of the Olympics. And help realise Mission 2021 by winning medals in Tokyo,” he added.
Pooja Rani (75kg) was the lone woman boxer to strike gold, while six-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg), and tournament debutants Lalbuatsaihi (64kg) and Anupama (81+kg) ended with silver medals after close losses in the women’s finals.
Eight other Indians — Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg), and Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), and Jaismine (57kg), Sakshi Chaudhary (64kg), Monika (48kg), Saweety (81kg) and Varinder Singh (60kg) — secured bronze medals after semifinal losses.
(With inouts from PTI)
