Birmingham, Aug 4: Two new stars emerged here on Thursday as debutants Sagar Ahlawat and Jasmine Lamboriya joined the seasoned Amit Panghal in the semifinals to confirm six medals for India in boxing at the Commonwealth Games.
The biggest find was Ahlawat in the men’s +91kg super heavyweight category as the 22-year-old continued his dream run in his international debut to dish out another superlative show and book a semifinal clash with Ifeany Onyekwere of Nigeria.
Having defeated former Olympian Maxme Njieyo of Cameroon by a 5-0 unanimous verdict in his opening round, Ahlawat had it easy in the quarters as he landed powerful blows on Seychelles’ Keddy Evans Agnes to make the semifinals.
For Jasmine, however, it was a tough fight after a dominating first round to prevail over New Zealand’s Troy Garton by a 4-1 split verdict in the women’s lightweight (60kg) quarter-final.
Making her CWG debut, Jasmine had an excellent first round as she overwhelmed her opponent with her fluid moves and clinical blows.
Garton resorted to an ultra-aggressive approach in the second round, something that took the Indian by surprise as she was cornered mostly in the ringside.
A day after India confirmed three medals – Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Nitu Ganghas (48kg) and Mohd Hussamudin (57kg) – former World Championship silver medallist Pangal started the proceedings for the country at the National Exhibition Centre, defeating Scotland’s Lennon Mulligan by a dominating 5-0 margin.
In the men’s 48-51kg flyweight category, it was an unanimous verdict in favour of the Indian southpaw, who had won a silver medal during the last edition in Gold Coast. (PTI)
