Amit Panghal earned himself a spot in the men's 51kg semifinal and an assured medal with a comfortable win over Scotland's Lennon Mulligan in their 2022 Commonwealth Games quarterfinal bout in Birmingham on Thursday.
The win also assured Panghal a second straight CWG medal. He had won silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Competing in his first major tournament since his disappointing round-of-16 exit at the Tokyo Olympics, Panghal made light work of his Scottish opponent.
Mulligan began the opening round on an aggressive note, while Panghal held back and soaked up the pressure. Panghal upped the ante in the final minute, landing a thunderous left jab on Mulligan's jaw, to pocket the first round. Four of the five judges awarded the round to the Indian.
Mulligan took the fight to Panghal in the second round as he threw body blow after body blow, but Panghal, yet again, remained calm and turned on the afterburners in the final 90 seconds. He ended the round with a solid left hook and won the round with ease.
The third round was a mere formality and Panghal launched a barrage of punches, forcing the referee to stop the bout and inflict a standing eight count on Mulligan. A standing eight count is a protection count that is called to determine whether a boxer is fit to continue.
Panghal, who won a silver medal at the 2019 boxing World Championship, saw through the third round to pocket a unanimous win and advance to the semifinal. He had beaten Vanuatu's Namri Berri in his previous bout.
- Jaismine beats Garton, makes semis -
Jaismine Lamboria advanced into the women's 60kg semifinal with a comprehensive win over New Zealand's Troy Garton. Making her CWG debut, Jaismine used her long reach to good effect as she played the waiting game before capitalising when Garton dropped her guard. The Indian won the opening round 5-0.
The New Zealander switched things up a bit in the second round as he played closer to the body, but Jaismine continued to dance around the ring and evade Garton's punches. The second round went Jaismine's way 3-2.
Needing all the judges to favour her in the final round, Garton put up an attacking display but it was too little, too late as Jaismine remained defensive to wrap up the win and assure India of its fifth boxing medal of the Games.
- Sagar defeats Agnes -
Sagar Ahlawat got the better of Seychelles' Keddy Evans Agnes in the men's 92kg quarterfinal to book his berth in the semifinal.
Agnes began on an attacking note and Sagar took a few heavy-handed punches to his face, but recovered well with a bunch of body blows. Sagar darted around the ring and the tactic seemed to be simple: tire out Agnes. Four out of the five judges ruled in Sagar's favour in the opening round.
Agnes caught Sagar with a massive hook to the jaw but the Indian was unfazed, punching away to win the second round too. Sagar firmly had the bout in his control at this point as he went after Agnes in the third round, landing a massive right hook that forced the referee to call for a standing eight count.