Asian Elite Boxing Championships 2022: Minakshi, Preeti and Parveen storm into semis; confirm medals for India

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New Delhi, November 6: Minakshi and Preeti along with the 2022 World Championships bronze medalist Parveen secured semi-final berths and guaranteed multiple medals for India at the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships 2022 in Amman, Jordan.

Minakshi (52kg) faced the four time Southeast Asian Games medalist Philippines' Irish Magno in the quarter finals. The Indian boxer started out strongly, landing a flurry of punches and asserting her confidence from the beginning.

Being sharp and nimble footed, she worked hard to maintain that consistency against her opponent till the end and won the bout 4:1.

Similar to Minakshi, Preeti (57kg) also produced a spirited performance against Turdibekova Sitora of Uzbekistan. The 2021 Asian Youth Boxing champion sustained her balance of strong offence and deft defence till the end to ensure a 5:0 unanimous victory.

Keeping up with the two debutants, the 2022 World Championships bronze medalist Parveen (63kg) also excelled in her quarter finals bout, proving to be unstoppable in her comprehensive 5:0 triumph over Thailand's Panpatchara Somnuek.

Her swiftness, relentless jabs, hooks and quick counterpunches kept her in the driving seat for the entire game with her opponent rarely getting the opportunity to attack.

Minakshi will now face Mongolia's Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg, Preeti will take on Japan's Irie Sena and Parveen will be up against Mongolia's Uranbileg Shinetsetseg in the semifinals on November 9.

In the other quarter final, Sakshi (54kg) suffered a 0:5 defeat at the hands of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Hsiao-Wen Huang of Chinese Taipei and bowed out of the competition.

Late on Friday (November 4) night, Ananta Chopade (54kg) booked his place in his quarters with a commanding 5:0 win over Japan's Tanaka Shogo while Etash Khan (60kg) suffered a 2:3 defeat in a hard fought game against Thailand's Khunatip Pidnuch.

Later on Sunday (November 6), 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) will kick off her campaign against the 2016 World Champion Valentina Khalzova of Uzbekistan.

Seven Indians including 2022 CWG bronze medalist Mohammed Hussamuddin (57kg) and 5-time Asian medalist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg) will be contesting in the quarter finals of the tournament on Sunday (November 6).

The other pugilists in action will be Govind Sahani (48kg) Ananta Chopade (54kg), Amit Kumar (67kg), Monika (48kg) and Simranjit Kaur (60kg).

Simranjit, the 2018 World Championship bronze medalist is making her comeback and will be facing the Asian Games gold medalist and two time Asian gold medalist Yeonji Oh of Korea.

The competition is witnessing the participation of 267 boxers from 27 top boxing nations.

Source: BFI Release