Tokyo Olympics: Satish Kumar gets medical clearance to play quarter-final

India’s boxer Satish Kumar was given clearance to play the quarter-final bout at the Tokyo Olympics against World No 1 Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan. Kumar who is India’s first super heavyweight (+91kg) boxer, was seen with seven stitches in his pre-quarterfinal bout against Jamaica’s Ricardo Brown. It was recommended he seek medical clearance before his bout.

The two-time Asian Championships bronze-winner, Kumar was able to defeat Brown 4-1 in his opening bout.

On the other hand, Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov, the reigning world, out-punched Azerbaijan’s Mahammad Abdullayev 5-0 in his last-16 bout.

The late bloomer from Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr is an Army man who used to play kabaddi, and was introduced to the sport by the Army coaches.

Satish is a former Asian Games bronze-medallist and a Commonwealth Games silver-medallist.

India has had a history of doing well in the lower weight categories. However, after Amit Panghal’s first-round exit, a lot of pressure on the heavyweight Satish Kumar. He is the only Indian boxing surviving in the Tokyo Olympics.

All of the Indian boxers– Amit Panghal (52kg), Manish Kaushik (63kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg), and Ashish Chaudhary (75kg) have bowed out with opening-round losses. India had sent a nine-strong squad for the Games.

Panghal, who was also making his debut in the Games and was seeded top, ended his journey after losing his first match.

One of India’s strongest medal contenders, Panghal was put under pressure by the Colombian in the opening round itself but the pre-bout favourite ensured that he connected better to claim the first three minutes 4-1.

Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) remains the only Indian boxer to secure a medal at the ongoing Games after making it to the semifinals. She defeated former world champion Nien-Chin Chen of Chinese Taipei in her quarterfinal bout.