Indian boxer Satish Kumar is through to the quarterfinals of the men's super heavyweight boxing event at the Tokyo Olympics.
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Indian boxer Satish Kumar is through to the quarterfinals of the men’s super heavyweight boxing event at the Tokyo Olympics. Kumar beat Ricardo Brown of Jamaica on Thursday to book his spot in the final eight. (Tokyo 2020 full coverage)
Satish won the first round by unanimous decision, with his counter-punching working well against the Jamaican. Brown’s errant punching didn’t help; the big man clearly packs a punch but wasn’t accurate enough for his liking.
As a result, Brown came out swinging even harder in the second round. He did land a few good body blows and even managed to bust open Kumar.
However, the round was awarded to Kumar but this time in a split decision. The Indian landed a few meaty blows of his own when the time came and managed to see out the round.
Brown again came out hard in Round 3, but Kumar was content to sit back and counter punch. Given he was leading the match, it was a strategy that made sense.
He ended up taking the third round too, although his win came via split decision. Still, that will matter little to the Indian, who is through to the quarters after a clinical display.
The Tokyo Olympics, which was delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is now up and running. The Games have not been without their share of controversies, however.
The event is happening despite plenty of protests from the Japanese people against it. And the angst is not without reason. Tokyo is currently in a state of emergency due to a rise in COVID cases.
The Games will by and large be played out in the absence of fans, always a major psychological blow to athletes. There’s also been a number of cases reported in the Olympic village itself.
Nevertheless, the Games remain an event that many around the world will be keen to watch. From July 23 to August 8, many will be hooked onto their televisions to follow the events.
India will also be pinning medal hopes on boxing. So far, three boxers including Satish are in the quarters. Making the semis guarantees a broze medal.
