Press Trust of India
Baku (Azerbaijan), June 18: Asian Games bronze medallist Satish Kumar (+91kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) notched up facile wins to enter the second round of the International Boxing Association’s World Olympic Qualification tournament here Saturday.
Satish, a former Asian Championships bronze winner as well, defeated Manase Kaho Raikadroga of Tonga 3-0 to set up a clash with Ireland’s Dean Gardiner in the next round.
“Satish faced an opponent of short height. The fellow tried to unsettle Satish with his wild swings at him but Satish did extremely well to box from long range and strike him on the counter-attack,” national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu.
Sumit, on the other hand, got the better of Trinidad’s Andrew Fermin 3-0. The 23-year-old will be up against eighth seed Juan Carlos Carrilo Palacio of Colombia in his second round contest.
“Sumit was very dominant all through and did not have to stretch himself much to get this win. His performance was thoroughly clinical,” Sandhu pointed.
However, it was curtains for Dheeraj Rangi (60kg) after he went down to top seed Lindolfo Garza of Mexico in a hard-fought bout. The Indian lost 1-2.
The tournament has 39 qualifying spots up for grabs – two in the 49kg category, five each in 52kg, 56kg, 60kg, 64kg, 69kg, 75kg and 81kg, and one each in 91kg and +91kg. Over 400 boxers from more than 100 countries are vying for these slots in the final qualifying tournament for amateur boxers.
