Asian silver-medallist Ashish Kumar (75kg) sailed into the quarterfinals of the continental Olympic Qualifiers for boxing with a thumping win over fourth-seeded Kyrgyz Omurbek Bekzhigit Uulu in the last-16 stage here on Thursday. Ashish prevailed 5-0 in the mostly lop-sided contest to set up a clash with Indonesia’s Maikhel Roberrd Muskita.
Muskita defeated New Zealand’s Ryan Scaife in his pre-quarterfinal bout. Making the semifinals would assure Ashish of his maiden spot in the Olympics scheduled in July-August this year. Up against a spunky rival, who he defeated in the Asian quarterfinals last year, Ashish played the waiting game to perfection, allowing Uulu to expend himself trying to connect.
Uulu swung his arms more than the Indian but it was Ashish who connected more accurately in the opening three minutes. However, Uulu kept up the pressure in the second round as well and managed to land a couple of solid rights, which caught the Indian off-guard and led to scores being split.
Ashish’s powerful and precise right hand served him well in the final three minutes as judges ruled unanimously in his favour. On Wednesday, fast-rising women boxers Simranjit Kaur (60kg) and Sakshi Chaudhary (57kg) notched up hard-fought victories to enter the quarterfinals.
World Championships bronze-medallist Simranjit defeated Kazakhstan’s Rimma Volossenko 5-0, while former junior world champion Sakshi stunned Asian silver-medallist and fourth seed Nilawan Techasuep of Thailand in a split 4-1 verdict.
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