Paris Olympics 2024: Indian boxing stars Amit Panghal, Jaismine Lamboria, Preeti Pawar lose in first round
Indian boxers Amit Panghal, Jaismine Lamboria and Preeti Pawar had horrid outings at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 with the trip bowing out of the competition after losing their first bouts.
Panghal, who was beaten in the first round at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 as well, couldn’t get going and was beaten 4-1 by Zambia’s Patrick Chinyemba in the men’s 51kg round-of-16 bout. The 28-year-old Panghal beat Chinyemba at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Jasmine, competing in her first Olympics, went down 5-0 to Philippines’ boxer Nesthy Petecio in the 57kg round-of-16 bout. The boxer from the Philippines won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Preeti was the last hope for India on a day that was forgettable for the boxers and the 20-year-old Asian Games bronze medalist came up with a good display but ultimately fell short of a win as she went down 2-3 by a split verdict against Yeni Marcela Arias of Colombia.
Preeti was on a defensive in the opening round and lost 1-4 but then she came all guns blazing in the second round.
She put on a fearless display in the second round using her height advantage to dodge punches while managing to score a jab and even a hook.
However, in the end she just fell short and the bout went in favour of the Colombian boxer, who is a former South American and a Pan-American champion with a 3-2 split verdict.
Panghal, who received an opening round bye, commenced his bout on the defence. Chinyemba, seeded third, came all guns blazing and Panghal found it tough to counter-attack.
He was also a tad underwhelming in his footwork and seemed to have lost the bout in his head even before he started handing out punches.
Panghal did try to attack Chinyemba whenever he got a chance but his opponent was agile and pushed him on the defence many times.
Jasmine was completely outclassed in her bout as she looked out of sorts. The Indian boxer dropped her weight to get back to 57kg category from the 60kg weight category and was caught wanting on most occasions.
She was slow and did not use her height to an advantage while the Filipina boxer, a former world champion, timed her moves and punches to perfection to seal the deal in her favour.
