Asian silver medalist Sumit Sangwan (91kg) and world silver medalist Sarjubala Devi (51kg) were among the four Indian boxers who assured themselves of medals after facile wins in the inaugural India Open tournament for men and women on Monday.
Second seed Sumit defeated Jordan’s Virender Kumar 5-0, while Sarjubala Devi (51kg) and Pinki Jangra (51kg) advanced to the semis in the women’s competition.
The heavyweight (91kg) top seed, Naman Tanwar beat Jordan’s Eishaish Hussein to enter the semi-finals and be assured of a medal.
Entering the quarters with an easy win was top seed and three-time Asian medalist Shiva Thapa (60kg), who beat Bhutan’s Dorji Wangdi in his opening clash. Shiva will face Uzbekistan’s Sherbek Rakhmatulloev next.
Another impressive win by reigning national champion Manish Kaushik (60kg) came up with a spirited show to defeat Cuba’s Rabi Armando Martinez. Top seed Sarjubala assured India of their first medal when she got past Kenya’s Christine Ongare 5-0.
She set up a semi-final clash with Mongolian Jargalan Ochirbat, who upstaged 13th seed and former junior world champion Nikhat Zareen in a fiercely-contested clash. Ochirbat won the bout on a split 3-2 verdict. Jangra scored a comprehensive 5-0 triumph over Jordan’s Al-Mriheel.
Among the men, Amit Phangal entered the last-eight stage without having to fight after his rival Ramish Rahmani of Afghanistan gave him a walkover. Next up for Amit is Cameroon’s Fotsala Simplice, who got the better of Malaysian Mohammad Fuad Bin Redzuan.
King’s Cup gold-medallist K Shyam Kumar (49kg) also advanced to the quarters but after a draining contest against compatriot Neeraj Swami even though the scoreline read 5-0 in favour of the former.
However, it was heartbreak for world youth champion Sachin Siwach (49kg), who lost a closely-contested bout against Thailand’s Thani Narinram. Earlier, Pooja (69kg) had been assured of a medal after making the semifinal straightaway owing to the small size of her draw.
