Ashish, Manish in quarters

Amman, March 5

Ashish Kumar (75kg) sailed into the quarterfinals of the Asian Olympics Qualifiers for boxing with a thumping win over fourth-seeded Kyrgyz Omurbek Bekzhigit Uulu in the last-16 stage.

Ashish prevailed 5-0 in a lopsided contest to set up a clash with Indonesia’s Maikhel Roberrd Muskita. Muskita defeated New Zealand’s Ryan Scaife in his pre-quarterfinal bout.

Manish Kaushik (63kg) had no trouble going past Taiwan’s Chu-En Lai in a unanimous 5-0 verdict to set up a quarterfinal clash with third seed Chinzorig Baatarsukh of Mongolia. Baatarsukh defeated Papua New Guinea’s John Ume in his last-16 bout.

A win against Muskita would put Ashish in the semifinals, assuring him of his maiden Olympics ticket.

Up against a spunky rival, whom he defeated in the Asian quarterfinals last year, the Himachal Pradesh boxer played the waiting game to perfection, allowing Uulu to expend himself trying to connect. Uulu swung his arms more than the Indian but it was Ashish who connected more accurately in the opening three minutes. However, Uulu kept up the pressure in the second round as well and managed to land a couple of solid rights, which caught the Indian off-guard and led to points being split.

Ashish’s powerful and precise right punches served him well in the final three minutes as the judges ruled unanimously in his favour. — PTI