EKATERINBURG (RUSSIA), Sept 8:
Asian champion Amit Panghal (52kg) was seeded second and got a bye into the pre-quarterfinals along with three others as Indian boxers aimed for a medal haul of more than a bronze in the men’s World Boxing Championships, starting here on Monday.
Amit was joined in the last-16 by Asian silver-winning duo of Kavinder Singh Bisht (57kg and seeded 5th) and Ashish Kumar (75kg and seeded 7th) alongside two-time India Open medallist Sanjeet (91kg) after draws were unveiled on Sunday here.
Of these, Ashish (seeded 7th) and Sanjeet are making their debut at the big event, while Panghal and Bisht had finished quarterfinalists in the 2017 Hamburg edition.
India will start their campaign on Tuesday with Brijesh Yadav (81kg) taking on Poland’s Maleusz Goinski in his opening round bout.
The coveted Olympic berths are no longer at stake, but the Indians will not be short of motivation when they step inside the ring to better a record which states four medals from 20 editions.
Vijender Singh (2009), Vikas Krishan (2011), Shiva Thapa (2015) and Gaurav Bidhuri (2017) make the exclusive club which has experienced what it feels like to be on the podium at amateur boxing’s marquee event. All these men ended with bronze medals. (Agencies)
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