May 8, 2017 by admin

Manoj made to work hard for World C’ships berth

Tashkent, Third seed Satish Kumar (+91kg) and sixth seed Manoj Kumar (69kg) were among the three Indian boxers who qualified for the World Championships after winning their respective box-offs at the Asian Championships here today.
Kavinder Singh Bisht (52kg) was the third boxer to qualify today, which means that seven Indian boxers have confirmed their berths for the World Championships. The others to have qualified are bronze medallists Vikas Krishan (75kg) and Amit Phangal (49kg) along with silver medallists Shiva Thapa (60kg) and Sumit Sangwan (91kg).
The top six boxers from each weight category in the Asian event qualified for the World Championships in Germany scheduled from August 25.
While Bisht (52kg) got a walkover against Malaysia’s Salam Abdul Kasim, Manoj prevailed in a split decision against second-seeded Chinese Liu Wei. Satish, on the other hand, sailed past China’s Mu Haipeng in a unanimous verdict.
Bisht, Manoj and Satish had lost in the quarterfinals of the ongoing event.
Manoj fought it out in an exhausting battle with Wei. Both the boxers were warned once for excessive bending.
The Indian’s never-say-die spirit came in handy after a sluggish opening round as he pulled through with an effective left straight.