There is no better feeling than being a medal winner. The Indian boxing team returned home with its best-ever haul in the recently concluded Asian Boxing Championships in Bangkok. The Indian pugilists—both, men and women—did not just finish on the podium, they made a reputation as giant killers.
The Indian team returned with 13 medals—two gold, four silver and seven bronze. The men won seven while the women boxers won six.
The Boxing Federation of India felicitated all the medal winners in a gala function this afternoon in the capital. The biggest applause was reserved for Amit Panghal, who has been in fine form in major competitions. Panghal beat reigning Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov in the 52kg category in the quarterfinal—his second successive win over the Uzbek 'golden boy'.
Speaking to the media at the event, Panghal said, "It was a very important medal for me as it was in the new weight category. Since I had not played boxers in this weight category before, we had to make strategy before every bout. Inputs from my fellow boxers like Shiva Thapa and Kavinder Singh, who had played the Korean I met in the final, helped me a lot. They told me to play from close range to avoid the reach of the Korean boxer, who was tall.
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“I will work more on my strength and reach. The increase in weight was never a problem for me." Panghal had earlier defeated Dusmatov at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
His focus is now on the AIBA World Championships in Hamburg in September this year. It is also the Olympic qualifying event.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Nikhat Zareen from Nizamabad, Telangana, won the bronze medal at the Asian Boxing Championships in Bangkok registering a huge upset win over two-time champion Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan in the 51kg category. She eventually lost to Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Tam in the semifinals. This has been a second confidence-boosting win for her post a career-threatening shoulder injury that kept her away for a year. She has the unenviable task of competing in the 51 kg category that also boasts of a certain Mangte C. Mary Kom, the reigning world champion. And legend.
Zareen will have to beat Mary Kom in the selection trials to be held ahead of the World Championships. For her, this win, and every win in a big competition, is crucial. "This was my first win at the senior level competition after my injury. This is a very important year for Olympic qualification, so it was important for me... to win a medal. In the quarterfinal, I faced the two-time world champion. It was a very tough bout but still I managed to win the bout. I was very happy."
On an impending face-off with Mary Kom, Zareen said, "If Mary Kom is in the category, you have to face her. Each one is an opponent inside the ring. It's tough but I am mentally prepared for the challenge."
Santiago Nieva, high performance director of the men and women's boxing teams, was happy about a strong bench strength being created. On Zareen posing a possible challenge to Mary Kom, he said, "Of course it will be difficult. It will be the same for Mary Kom. For us, it's a positive. We have many strong boxers in the same weight category that makes them even more stronger. It's tough to be a world-class boxer and be left out of a World Championship. We want many top boxers in each weight category. There is always this battle between experience and youth. Experience is important but so is quality. If you have quality and strength of youth, you can overcome the deficit in experience."
Santiago said the real strength of Indian boxing will be tested in the World Championships, where the men have not gone beyond a bronze medal. “I am hopeful that will change,” BFI president Ajay Singh said, while praising the performance of the pugilists. He said his federation was hoping for a fine performance at the world event. “We had a string of victories that were just stunning. Thirty-seven-year-old Sarita (won the bronze in 60kg) showed that age means nothing at all. Several of our boxers defeated world champions.
"I know for a fact that two of our silver medals—Deepak and Kavinder’s—ought to have been gold. We need to work towards making sure that bouts like those end in our favour.”
