Asian Boxing Championships: Panghal leads six boxers into finals

India boxer Amit Panghal

Amit Panghal (52kg) and Kavinder Singh Bisht (56kg) remained on course for their second successive international gold medals this year and India looked good to notch up its best ever performance in the Asian Boxing Championships here yesterday.

Panghal and Bisht were the most impressive on a day when Shiva Thapa's (60kg) unprecedented fourth successive semi-final appearance ended with a bronze after a gruelling battle which could have gone either way.

Deepak Singh (49kg) and Ashish Kumar (75kg) joined Panghal and Bisht in the men's finals, while Pooja Rani (81kg) and Simranjit Kaur (64kg) advanced to today's summit clashes in the women's draw.

Panghal defeated China's Hu Jianguan in a split verdict, which was a surprise given that the Indian was clearly the more dominant of the two boxers and dictated the bout with his tremendous pace and aggression.

Bisht, on the other hand, turned in a lion-hearted show in a bloody battle which left him and his opponent - Mongolian Enkh-Amar Khakhuu - with bandaged right eyes. The draining fight ended 3-2 in the Indian's favour.

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