World Boxing Championships 2019 Final highlights: Amit Panghal scripts history, becomes first Indian male boxer to win silver

Amit Panghal will look to create history when he takes on Rio Olympic champion Shakhobidin Zoirov in the final of the 52kg category at the World Boxing Championship. Panghal is already the first Indian to reach the final of the World Boxing Championship and now seeks to etch his name in the record books when fights for the gold in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Panghal, on Friday, defeated Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibissonov 3-2 in a split decision verdict to reach the final while Manish Kaushik, on the other hand, had to settle for bronzeFollow highlights here:-

19:47 hrs IST

Amit Panghal (52kg) in action at the AIBA Men’s World Championships in Ekaterinburg, Russia. (PTI)

Panghal settles for silver

It was unanimous decision by the judges as they adjudged Shakhobidin Zoirov the winner of the bout with a scoreline of 5-0. Hard luck for Panghal who becomes the first Indian male boxer to win a World Championships silver.

19:45 hrs IST

Round 3

Even though Zoirov has the longer reach, Amit is landing more clean punches on him. However, Zoirov is the more aggressive boxer in the match and has kept Amit on the ropes. The Uzbek opponent raised his hand at end to celebrate and it looks like the bout could go his way.

19:42 hrs IST

Round 2

Both the boxers missed their range at the start of the round. Amit landed a few body shots to rattle his opponent. It looks like the round belonged to Amit as he finished the round with a head shot.

19:37 hrs IST

Round 1

Shakhobidin Zoirov was the more aggressive boxer of the two in the first round. Panghal missed a few shots on Zoirov.

Bout is about to start

Amit Panghal and Shakhobidin Zoirov have the first fight of the night. Panghal will look to make history as he fights for gold in the 52kg category.

18:25 hrs IST

Panghal confident of gold

“I am very happy that for the first time we have won two medals and it is most successful World Championships for India but for me history is still to be made. Tomorrow I will go for the gold,” Panghal told HT after his victory.

17:41 hrs IST

Panghal’s turning point

The last couple of years Panghal has been relentless in his chase of gold medals. In the 2017 World Championships, he had lost to Olympic champion (49kg) Hasanboy Dusmatov in the quarter-finals. That was a turning point.

17:05 hrs IST

Can Panghal upset Zoirov?

“He has not played Zoirov before but Amit is smart and we will watch videos tonight and plan our strategy,” India’s high performance director Santiago Nieva said.