Amit Panghal defeated Olympic Champion Hasanboy Dusmatov from Uzbekistan to win gold in Men’s 49kg Boxing. Amit won his bout via split decision 3-2. With this win Amit became only the eighth Indian boxer to win a gold medal at the Asian Games.
The young Armyman played tactically to outwit Dusmtov who is known for his quick speed. After the match Panghal said that he was seeking revenge for his loss against Dusmatov in last year’s World Championships. “I had lost to him before, so I had to take revenge. Coach Santiago (Nieva) and other coaches had prepared me well. In the semifinal, I did not play the first round well, here I did not repeat that mistake,” he said.
Talking about Panghal’s win, the men’s chief coach Santiago Nievea said, “He (Dusmatov) got tired towards the end and his punches did not have the strength. Amit was fast today. He had the first round, we knew he had the strength to pull it off. It can’t get bigger than this for him”.
On the other hand, boxer Vikas Krishan settled for a bronze medal in the Men’s 75kg Boxing. Vikas was declared medically unfit due to a cut on his left eyelid and was unable to compete in the semifinal match against Kazakhstan’s Amankul Abilkhan.
Krishan sustained the injury during the pre-quarterfinal match, and it was aggravated during his quarterfinal bout against China’s Tuoheta Erbieke Tanglatihan. Vikas completed the match bleeding only assure himself of a medal. hough he could not win the gold, Vikas created history by becoming the first India boxer to clinch a medal in three successive Asian Games. He won the Lightweight 60kg category gold in 2010 and the Middleweight bronze medal in the 2014.
