Harpal  Singh Bedi

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New Delhi: Defending champion Amit Panghal  and Olympian Shiv Thapa chalked out  impressive wins over their rivals to  move into the finals of their respective categories while two other Indians Vikas  Krishan and Varinder Singh lost their semi final bouts  at the  ASBC Asian Boxing Championships in Dubai.
 in 52 KG category semi finals  Amit out punched  Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibossinov  while  in 64 kg  Shiva Thapa also ensured his third final appearance at the  as he shocked top-seeded Bakhodur Usmonov of Tajikistan   with 4-0 win.
It was a tense  fight  between World Championships silver medallist Amit  and bronze medallist Bibossinov, the Indian  opened cautiously  keeping  a distance from the opponent. However  in the second round  Amit  hit some clean punches to put pressure on Bibossinov. 

The Indian  maintained the pressure  and  dominance over  the Kazakh  to romp home with  a commanding 5-0 win.

Amit will  face the Rio Olympics and World Champion Zoirov Shakhobidin of Uzbekistan in the gold medal match on Monday. 

Thapa, who has already secured a record fifth consecutive medal of the Championships, will  fight with  the  Asian Games silver medallist Mongolia’s Baatarsukh Chinzorig in the final.
Meanwhile,  in the 69kg semi-finals, Vikas Krishan put up a  determined fight  despite being hit above the eye. The Haryana boxer  had sustained a cut above his eye in the previous bout and that cut opened up again. 

The Doctor examined the cut and stopped the bout in the third minute of  first round. However, on the basis of points scored till then, Vikas lost  against Uzbekistan’s Baturov Bobo-Usmon with a split verdict. 

In the 60 kg semifinal Varinder Singh  failed  to get past Iran’s  Daniyal Shahbakhsh and lost narrowly  2-3 

Meanwhile, it was heartbreak for the two-time youth world champion Sakshi Chaudhary, who was initially adjudged as winner, in the  54kg, lost her place in the final and had to settle with bronze medal after the opponent Dina Zholaman appealed to review the last round of bout. 

The jury upheld the claim and altered the result in favour of the Kazakh boxer.

Six-time World Champion Mary Kom (51kg) alongside three more Indian women pugilists—Pooja Rani (75kg), Anupama (+81kg) and Lalbuatsahi (64kg)—progressed into the finals. 
The defending champion Pooja received a walk-over against Mongolia’s Munkhbat. While in the other last-4 bouts played late on Friday night, Lalbuatsaihi was declared winner after her opponents from Kuwait Noura Almutairi abandoned the bout in the second round following the Indian’s relentless attack. 
Anupama (+81+kg) also emerged victorious against Mokhira Abdullaeva of Uzbekistan.

Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Jaismine (57kg) Monika (48kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Saweety (81kg) are the other women boxers who secured bronze medals after enduring defeats in their respective last-4 clashes.

India is now assured of at least six silver medals with four women already making their way into the finals earlier on Thursday at the event which is jointly hosted by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and UAE Boxing Federation. 

With 15 medals confirmed, Indian contingent also achieved their highest medal haul, surpassing the previous best of 13 (2 gold, 4 silver and 7 bronze) from the 2019 edition in Bangkok.

The International Boxing Association, AIBA has allocated USD 4,00,000 prize money for the on-going Championships. The gold medallists of men’s and women’s categories will be awarded with USD 10,000 while both the silver and bronze medal winners will take home USD 5,000 and 2,500 respectively. 

Final matches of women’s and men’s categories will take place on Sunday and Monday respectively.

HSBder.”