Asian Games 2018: Boxers Vikas Krishan, Amit Panghal, Dheeraj Rangi advance to quarters; Mohammed Hussamuddin bows out

Jakarta: Commonwealth Games medal-winning duo of Vikas Krishan (75kg), Dheeraj Rangi (64kg) and ( Amit Panghal (49kg) on Monday advanced to the quarter-finals of the Asian Games boxing competition at Jakarta, while Mohammed Hussamuddin (56kg) bowed out. Vikas out-ounched Pakistan’s Tanveer Ahmed in his pre-quarterfinal bout before Amit recovered from a rusty start to outwit Mongolia’s Enkhmandakh Kharhuu – both the wins being unanimous verdicts. [caption id=“attachment_5057271” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Vikas Krishan. AFP[/caption] Joining them in the last eight was was national champion Dheeraj, who defeated Mongolia’s Nurlan Kobashev. However, Commonwealth Games bronze-winner Hussamuddin lost a close contest against Kyrgyzstan’s Enkh-Amar Kharkhuu to bow out of the competition in the pre-quarterfinal stage. The Indian lost 2-3 and also sustained a cut on his forehead. Vikas, who won a gold in 2010 and a bronze in the 2014 Asiad, opened the proceedings for India, producing a dominating performance in which his right hooks stood out. The Indian’s powerful punches were mostly met with feeble counters by the Pakistani, who received one standing eight count during the bout and was left quite shaken at the end of it. The Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Indian also sustained a cut above his left eye during the bout but did not seem too affected. He will be up against China’s Tuoheta Erbieke Tanglatihan in the quarter-finals on Wednesday. Tanglatihan defeated Turkmenistan’s Nursahet Pazzyyev in his last-16 stage bout. If Vikas goes on to win a medal at the Games, he would become the first Indian boxer with a hat-trick of podium finishes at the mega-event. In the evening session, Amit came back strongly after being rattled a bit by Kharhuu in the opening round. The CWG silver-winner found his bearings in the second round, using his left jabs to telling effect. The Haryana-lad forced his rival into a shell guard but even that could not save the Mongolian from the pounding that came his way. One of the Indian’s left jabs on counter-attack jolted Kharhuu in the third round, leading to a standing eight count before the misery ended for him with the ring of the final bell. Amit will face North Korean Kim Jang Ryong in the quarters on Wednesday. Ryong defeated Iran’s Omid Ahmadisafa in his pre-quarterfinal bout today. In the last Indian bout of the day, Dheeraj also recovered from a slow start to get the better of Kobashev. The Kyrgyz was the dominant one in the opening round but ran out of steam eventually and even ended up getting a warning for bending too much in the third round.