April 27: After his 5-0 win over World Championship bronze medallist Kim Inkyu of Korea in the 52 kg final of the Asian Championships in Bangkok on Friday, Amit Panghal gathered himself and turned towards the corner where his coaches Santiago Nieva and C Kutappa stood. With a smile on his face, he saluted the two. Overwhelmed by their ward’s gesture, the coaches extended their arms, leaned over the ropes and gave Panghal a tight hug.
It was an emotional huddle. This wasn’t just another gold medal, it was an triumphant end to the boxer’s extraordinary run. Never ever has an Indian boxer had defeated so many high-profile boxers during the journey to the top of the podium.
In a week’s time, Panghal scored wins over boxers who were Olympics or World Championship medalists. His scalps included the 2016 world champion in 48kg Husanboy Dusmatov, Rio Olympics bronze medallist in 52kg Hu Jianghuan of Korea and the World Championship bronze medallist Inkyu in the final.
“It feels great to beat three world level boxers. Fighting against Dusmatov, I knew his strategy and had prepared accordingly. In the semifinals, the Chinese boxer was taller than me and had a long reach. He was aggressive too. So my plan was to be in forward position and be aggressive. My teammate Kavinder, who fought in 52kg earlier had faced Kim in the past. We discussed his game prior to the final. Kim has a long reach and has a combination of 2-3 punches. My plan was to remain close to him. I planned to take advantage of my quick movement to dodge him. This is more special than the Asian Games medal since here I defeated 3 world medallist boxers,” Panghal said.
(The Indian Express)
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