Vikas Krishan (75kg) became the third Indian boxer to enter the quarter-finals of the World Olympic qualifying tournament at Baku in Azerbaijan and is just one win away from booking a berth in the Rio
Vikas Krishan (75kg) became the third Indian boxer to enter the quarter-finals of the World Olympic qualifying tournament at Baku in Azerbaijan and is just one win away from booking a berth in the Rio Games.
Seeded second in his draw, Vikas out-punched Georgia’s Kvachatadze Zaal 3-0 late on Tuesday night to advance to the last-eight stage where he will take on Korea’s Lee Dongyun.
“Vikas dominated all three rounds and did not have to work too hard for this win. The Georgian tried his best but Vikas kept his composure and in the end it was easy for him,” national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu said.
Vikas joined Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) in the quarter-finals. All three have to make the semis to book an Olympic berth besides being assured of a medal.
Another Indian, L. Devendro Singh (49kg), seeded fourth, is already through to the semi-finals but has to make the summit clash of his weight category to confirm a Rio spot.
After a rest day, Vikas, Manoj and Sumit will compete in their respective quarter-final bouts on Thursday. Devendro, on the other hand, will be in action on Friday.
Devendro faces Spain’s Samuel Heredia, who stunned top seed Dmytro Zamotaev of Ukraine.
Manoj will face Tajikistan’s Rakhimov Shavkatdzhon while Sumit is up against Russia’s Petr Khamukov.
