Olympic quota in hand, boxer Panghal brings laurels to Rohtak

Ravinder Saini

Rohtak, June 2

Boxer Amit Panghal, a resident of Mayna village here, has yet again made everyone proud in the district and the state by securing a quota for Paris Olympics in 51-kg category. This 28-year-old pugilist achieved the feat in the World Olympic Boxing Qualifier in Bangkok today. He beat Chinese boxer Liu Chuang 5-0 in the quarterfinals. Panghal became the fifth Indian boxer and second male to book a Paris Olympics quota.

A wave of happiness swept Mayna village as soon as the news came in. “Amit had been toiling hard for this, so we were quite confident about him securing the quota for the Paris Olympics. I spoke to him over the phone last evening and he promised me an Olympic berth. Amit made us proud by fulfilling his promise. We enjoyed the live telecast of his bout,” said Vijendra Panghal, Amit’s father.

This would be the second time when Amit would compete for an Olympic medal. He will now work towards make his performance better after a below-par show at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where Amit, then world number 1, was stunned by Rio Games silver-medallist Yuberjen Martinez 1-4 in the pre-quarterfinals.

“After the Tokyo Olympics, Amit has toiled hard not only to improve his technique but also learnt a lot from his mistakes, so we are hopeful that he will not miss the opportunity this time and make every Indian proud by clinching a medal in the Paris Olympics,” said Vijendra, who is a farmer. He said they were getting congratulatory messages over phone from near and dear ones. “Several villagers came to our home to celebrate this proud moment,” he added. He said Amit would return home in one or two days.