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Sumit, Sarjubala assured of medals, Shiva in quarters

By The Assam Tribune

NEW DELHI, Jan 29: Asian silver-medallist Sumit Sangwan (91kg) and world silver-medallist Sarjubala Devi (51kg) were among the four Indian boxers who assured themselves of medals after facile wins in the inaugural India Open tournament for men and women here today.

Second seed Sumit defeated Jordan�s Virender Kumar 5-0, while Sarjubala Devi (51kg) and Pinki Jangra (51kg) advanced to the semis in the women�s competition of the USD 100,000 event. The heavyweight (91kg) top seed, Naman Tanwar, who claimed a bronze at the world youth championships, made an impressive debut in the senior circuit, defeating Jordan�s Eishaish Hussein to enter the semifinals and be assured of a medal.

Entering the quarterfinals with an easy win was top seed and three-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa (60kg), who produced a calculative performance to defeat Bhutan�s Dorji Wangdi in his opening clash. Shiva will face Uzbekistan�s Sherbek Rakhmatulloev. Another impressive win of the day was notched up by reigning national champion Manish Kaushik (60kg), who came up with a spirited show to defeat Cuba�s Rabi Armando Martinez.

Top seed Sarjubala assured India of their first medal of the day when she got past Kenya�s Christine Ongare 5-0.

The diminutive Manipuri, who is a world championships silver-medallist was in aggressive mode from the first ring of the bell.

Her hooks connected quite accurately, and she did well to back-peddle and thwart Ongare�s attempts at counter-attack. In the end, judges had no hesitation in awarding the bout unanimously to the home favourite. � PTI

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