Thailand Open boxing: Amit Panghal, Ashish Kumar win silver as India bag 10 medals

Tokyo Olympians Amit Panghal and Ashish Kumar settled for silver medals in the men’s 52kg and 81kg events, respectively, at the Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament 2022 in Phuket on Saturday.

Indian boxers finished the tournament with 10 medals – three gold, four silver and three bronze.

Govind Sahani (men’s 48kg), Ananta Pralhad Chopde (men’s 54kg) and Sumit Kundu (men’s 75kg) were the three gold medal winners from this edition.

With as many as seven Indians competing for gold on Saturday, former world No. 1 and world championships silver medallist Amit Panghal lost a tight match against the Phillipines’ Rogen Ladon, an Asian Games silver medallist from 2018.

Amit Panghal dominated the first round but ceded ground in the next two to lose his final bout by a 2-3 split decision.

Panghal’s fellow Tokyo Olympian Ashish Kumar, who won the 75kg gold last time, fell 5-0 against Kazakhstan’s Nurbek Oralbay, a world youth champion from 2018.

Monika (women’s 48kg) and Varinder (men’s 60kg) also settled for silver medals after losing their medal bouts to Thai boxers Chutamas Raksa and Khunatip Pidnuch. Both lost by 5-0 margins.

Govind Sahani and Sumit Kundu, both reigning national champions in their respective divisions and Ananta Pralhad Chopde, meanwhile, beat their Thai opponents via 5-0 unanimous decisions in their medal bouts.

Sahani accounted for Natthaphon Thuamcharoen, Kundu outboxed Peetapat Yeasungnoen while Ananta emerged victorious against local youngster Ritthiamon Saengsawang.

Women’s boxers Manisha Moun (57kg), Pooja (69kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari (75kg) had already secured bronze medals on Friday after losing out in the semi-finals.

India had won eight medals – one gold, four silver and three bronze - in the last edition with Ashish Kumar, incidentally, winning India’s only gold.

Thailand Open 2022 boxing: India medal winners

Govind Sahani (men’s 48kg) - gold

Amit Panghal (men’s 52kg) – silver

Ananta Pralhad Chopde (men’s 54kg) – gold

Varinder (men’s 60kg) – silver

Sumit Kundu (men’s 75kg) - gold

Ashish Kumar (men’s 81kg) – silver

Monika (women’s 48kg) – silver

Manisha Moun (women’s 57kg) - bronze

Pooja (women’s 69kg) - bronze

Bhagyabati Kachari (women’s 75kg) - bronze