Arundhati Choudhary kickstarted her quest for an Olympic berth with a commanding 5-0 win over Puerto Rico’s Stephanie Pieneiro in the 66kg opening round at the Boxing World Olympic Qualifiers in Bangkok. However, Narender Berwal (+92kg) bowed out after a close 3-2 loss.

DOCTOR VERIFIED

Bangkok (Thailand): National champion Arundhati Choudhary recorded a convincing triumph in the 66kg weight category to reach the pre-quarter-finals while Narender Berwal lost in the +92kg category by a 3:2 verdict in the Boxing World Olympics Qualifiers in Bangkok on Wednesday.

Choudhary began her campaign with a clinical Round against Stephanie Pieneiro of Puerto Rico. She was slightly conservative in Round 2 as she consolidated her position before again dominating the next round to get a unanimous 5:0 verdict in her favour.

Later, Berwal put up a strong fight against Ecuador’s Gerlon Gilmar Congo Chala but it was not enough to advance to the next round.

The 2022 Asian Games bronze medallist started slow in Round and was then forced to catch up. He did well to impress three of the five judges with his punches in Round and 3 of the Round of 32 bout. However, his efforts were not enough to overturn the overall deficit.

In the evening session, Ankushita while Nishant Dev (7lkg) will be up Yeasungnoen to earn a spot in the Boro will face Rimma Volossenko of Kazakhstan in the 60kg pre-quarters against Thailand’s Peerapat quarterfinals.

Earlier on Tuesday, India’s Nishant Dev outpunched and outclassed his Mongolian opponent Otgonbaatar Byamba-Erdeneto in just over two minutes to advance to the 71kg pre- quarterfinals.

However, Abhinash Jamwal was unlucky to be knocked out in the 63.5 kg category.

Nishant began with a flurry of punches against Mongolia’s Otgonbaatar Byamba-Erdeneto to force a standing count in the very first minute. A combination of a jab and cross hook led to another standing count and the Referee Stopped the Contest (RSC) with 58 seconds still left to play in Round 1.

Jamwal fought back with gumption after losing a close first round against Colombia’s Jose Manuel Viafara Fory. He clearly dominated the third and final round forcing a tie on points from all five judges. As per the rules, the judges were asked again to weigh the performance and decide the winner; all of them then finally voted in Fory’s favour after a long deliberation to seal the final score 5:0 for the Colombian.

Sachin Siwach began in a similar fashion, looking to land as many punches on Frederik Jensen of Denmark, and grabbed the advantage in Round 1. His confidence only grew as the match progressed as he earned a unanimous verdict from all five judges in Round 2 and 3 to ultimately grab the win with a 5-0 verdict.