Haryana’s Pooja, Vikas make it to Olympics

Amman, March 8

Pooja Rani (75kg) and Vikas Krishan (69kg) became the first set of Indian boxers to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by advancing to the semifinals of the Asian Olympics Qualifiers.

Fourth-seeded Rani notched up a facile 5-0 win over Thailand’s Pornnipa Chutee to become the first Indian boxer to make it to Tokyo. Krishan endured a tough fight against third-seeded Sewonrets Okazawa before prevailing in an unanimous verdict against the Japanese, a silver medallist at last year’s Asian Championships. However, Sachin (81kg) went down in a split decision to China’s national champion Daxiang Chen in his quarterfinal bout. But he could still qualify for the Olympics if he wins the two-bout box-off between the losing quarterfinalists. The top-5 boxers in his category will get a spot in the Tokyo Games.

Krishan will be making his third successive appearance at the quadrennial showpiece in July-August. —PTI