Boxing World Qualifiers: Former world youth champion Ankushita Boro wins opening round

New Delhi: Former world youth champion Ankushita Boro prevailed over Namuun Monkhor of Mongolia in the 60kg category while Abhimanyu Loura went down against Ireland’s Kelyn Cassidy in the second round of the 80kg weight category in the 2nd Boxing World Qualifiers for Paris Olympics in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday.

Boro, the first Indian woman in action in what is the final chance for pugilists to book Paris Olympic berths, began strongly against her young Mongolian opponent. She effectively blunted Monkhor’s speedy movements by tactically shifting gears to carve out a 4-1 win after three keenly contested rounds.

However, it was not an outing to remember for Loura. The National Championships bronze medallist came into the second-round clash against two-time Irish champion Cassidy, high on confidence after beating Bulgaria’s 10-time national champion Kristiyan Nikolov in a thrilling encounter.

But Cassidy was well prepared for the long reach of his opponent and went on to win 0-5 despite Loura giving his all in the final round.

On Tuesday, Sachin Siwach (57kg), Abhinash Jamwal (63.5kg), and Nishant Dev (71kg) will look to continue their march towards their quest for an Olympic quota.

Sachin will face Frederik Jensen of Denmark, Jamwal will take on Colombia’s Jose Manuel Viafara Fory and Nishant Dev will meet Otgonbaatar Byamba-Erdene of Mongolia. India has already secured three quotas for the Paris Games with Nikhat Zareen (women’s 50kg), Preeti (54kg), and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) confirming their berths by winning bronze medals at the 2022 Asian Games. India has fielded seven men and three women boxers in the 2nd world qualifiers and five of them have received an opening round bye. (IANS)

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