Hamburg: Indian boxers were off to flying start at the 19th World Boxing Championships, notching an all-win opening day with contrasting victories here Friday.
Amit Phangal (49kg) and Gaurav Bidhuri (56kg), both making their debut at the mega-event, were the only Indians in action in the late evening session and they had the contingent ecstatic by moving into the second round here.
Asian bronze-medallist Amit was the first to take the ring and shrugged off a slow start to edge past Italian Federico Serra in a split verdict.
The 21-year-old from Haryana, competing in the biggest tournament of his career, was rather sluggish in the opening round, allowing his rival easy shots. However, he shook off the lethargy in the second and third rounds with some well-placed hooks and straights.
In fact, Amit managed to out-pace his rival quite well in the closing three minutes, which perhaps tilted the scales in his favour.
“This is my first year in the senior circuit and so far it has turned out to be quite well. I am happy with the results I am getting,” Amit said after his bout.
The nimble-footed boxer will be up against Carlos Quipo of Ecuador in his second round bout. Quipo is seeded seventh in the event here.
Gaurav was the next man in for India and he was up against Sam Goodman, an 18-year-old world youth bronze medallist and Oceania champion who sought crowd-funding to compete in the big event.
The 23-year-old Indian, at a disadvantage because of his short stature, more than made up for it with his relentless attacks and didn’t concede much to his younger opponent. Goodman was left rather dazed by Gaurav’s hitting and had little to offer in retaliation. The judges had no hesitation in awarding the bout unanimously to the Delhi boxer.
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