Asian boxing: 3 Indians reach semis, assured of medals (2nd lead)
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Amit Panghal (52kg), Varinder (60kg), and Vikas Krishan (69kg) on Wednesday entered the semi-finals at the Asian Boxing Championships here, and assured three medals for India.
However, a fighting Ashish Kumar Chaudhary (75kg) went down 2-3 to Kazakhstan's Abilkhan Amankul, the World Championships and Asian Games silver medallist, in a late evening quarterfinal bout.
Krishan, 29, beat Iran's Moselm Maghsoudi Mal Amir 4-1 in the quarterfinals, and will next face reigning Asian Games champion Baturov Bobo Usmon of Uzbekistan in the semi-finals.
In the men's 60kg, Varinder scored a 5-0 win over Samuel Dela Cruz of the Philippines to move into the semi-finals.
Earlier in the day, Olympic Games-bound boxer Panghal had defeated Kharkhuu Enkhmandakh of Mongolia 3-2 in the men's 52kg quarterfinals.
Panghal, the world silver medallist and defending champion, made a cautious start, but shifted gears as the match progressed.
On the other hand, the Mongolian boxer was aggressive from the word go and kept pace with Panghal throughout the nail-biting contest. But it was Panghal's tactical brilliance that enabled him to edge past Enkhmandakh.
In the women's section, six-time world champion MC Mary Kom (51kg) will be in action in the semi-finals on Thursday.
The Indian women's team has entered the semi-finals in almost all the weight categories, including 60kg and 54kg.
