World Boxing Championships | Amit Panghal, Manish Kaushik win quarters, ensure medals

Asiad and championship gold-medallist Panghal was up against Filipino Carlo Paalam, while Commonwealth Games silver-medallist Kaushik was facing Brazil’s Wanderson de Oliveira. And both the pugilists won 4-1 and 5-0 respectively to clinch their maiden world medals.

Prior to this, India had achieved more than one bronze medal in a single edition of the world championship, with the overall tally of the nation was an underwhelming four with Vijender Singh (2009), Vikas Krishan (2011), Shiva Thapa (2015) and Gaurav Bidhuri (2017) the only claimants.

Second-seeded Panghal was up against familiar foe Paalam, whom he had earlier beaten in the Asian Games semifinals last year, and despite starting shakily the Indian got back in shape to win the clash. Former national champion Manish Kaushik was making his debut in the tournament but looked extremely composed against his Oliviera. He would be facing Cuban top seed Andy Gomez Cruz next

However, it wasn’t all nine and sunny for the Indian boxing contingent with the likes of Sanjeet (91kg) and Kavinder Singh Bisht (57kg) getting eliminated after losing their respective quarterfinals. It was the second consecutive time that Bisht was competing in the Worlds after he had previously finished as the quarterfinalist even last time.