Thailand Open: Govind, Ananta, Sumit strike gold
New Delhi: Indian boxers Govind Sahani (48kg), Ananta Pralhad Chopde (54kg) and Sumit (75kg) struck gold at the Thailand Open in Phuket, notching up comprehensive wins in their respective bouts on Saturday.
Sahani and Sumit, the reigning national champion, dominated their bouts from start to finish and won with identical 5-0 margins against local pugilists Natthaphon Thuamcharoen and Peetapat Yeasungnoen respectively. Ananta, on the other hand, displayed a good mix of aggression and defense to topple Thai boxer Ritthiamon Saengsawang by unanimous decision.
However, Amit Panghal (52kg) and Monika (48kg), Varinder Singh (60kg) and Ashish Kumar (81kg), could not go the distance and ended their campaigns with a silver each. Panghal, the 2019 world championship silver medallist, lost a closely-fought bout to Rogen Ladon of Phillipines via a 2-3 split decision.
With little separating the two boxers through the course of the bout, the 26-year-old Indian managed to edge past the Filipino in the first round. But Laden made a comeback to take the following two rounds. In the men’s 81kg summit clash, Ashish, last edition’s 75kg gold medallist, toiled hard but couldn’t find a way to stop Kazakhstan’s Nurbek Oralbay, succumbing to a 0-5 loss.
The 26-year-old Monika, on the other hand, put up a spirited performance but went down to local boxer Chutamas Raksa 0-5 to settle for the silver medal. Varinder also went down by a 0-5 margin to local boxer Khunatip Pidnuch. The Indian contingent bettered its last edition’s haul of eight medals — one gold, four silver and three bronze.
Indian boxers bring home 10 medals, including three golds, four silvers, and three bronze with three boxers yet to fight in their final bouts. Manisha (57kg), Pooja (69kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari (75kg) had signed off with bronze medals on Friday.
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