Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament: Vikas Krishan, Amit Panghal produce fine performances to storm into finals

Delhi: Former Asian Games gold-medallist Vikas Krishan (75kg) and the fast-rising Amit Panghal (49kg) advanced to the finals with tactically contrasting wins in the Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament for men and women. Amit, a gold-medallist at last month’s India Open, defeated Russia’s Soian Artysh to make the summit clash where he will be up against Morocco’s Said Mordaji. [caption id=“attachment_3126978” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Vikas Krishan. Reuters[/caption] Vikas, on the other hand, defeated China’s Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatiha in his semifinal contest. The former World Championships bronze-medallist produced another calculated performance, continuing a fine comeback from a hand injury. The seasoned boxer was savage with his uppercuts and hardly committed any defensive errors to thrash out a facile win. However, last edition’s silver-medallist Mohammed Hussamuddin ended with a bronze this time after going down to Russian Shakhrier Ahmedov in a fiercely-contested semifinal bout. In a fast-paced slugfest, Amit, also an Asian Championship bronze-medallist, showed commendable ring craft to dodge his sprightly rival’s attacks. The Indian connected well on the counter-attack and didn’t give Artysh a clear shot despite his perilously low guard. Hussamuddin, on the other hand, was the one launching into his opponent. The Indian boxed with a deep cut above his left eye, sustained in the second round but did not let that come in the way of a spirited performance. Hussamuddin’s injury needed attention twice in the final round and he went down in a split verdict. Earlier, Asian Championships bronze-medallist Seema Poonia (+81kg) entered the finals, while two other women boxers settled for bronze medals. In the final session late last night, Seema, who got a bye into the semifinals, defeated Bulgarian Mihaela Nikolova 5-0 to make the summit clash along with MC Mary Kom (48kg). Settling for bronze medals in the women’s draw were World Championships silver-medallist Saweety Boora (75kg), former world and Asian champion L Sarita Devi (60kg), Bhagyabati Kachari (81kg), and M Meena Kumari Devi (54kg).