Commonwealth Games gold medallist Amit Panghal and National champion Sachin entered the semifinals of the 75th Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria .
Amit (51kg) continued his fine form to claim 5-0 unanimous decision win over Aldarkhishig Battulga of Mongolia.
Coming from a dominating win in his last match, Amit controlled the bout right from the start giving his opponent little to no chance to make a comeback. The boxer from Haryana continued to build on the momentum and did not lose the grip of the game even for a second.
Amit was so dominant in the bout that he won each round with a 5-0 verdict .
Sachin (57kg) was equally dominating against Kapanadze Giorgi of Georgia. The southpaw boxer took some time in finding his rhythm but once settled, he looked like a force to reckon with.
Sachin won the first round 4-1 and took the game heads on in the second one, using his counter attacking game to strike some effective left hooks.
The opponent tried to be more aggressive in the third round but Sachin comfortably won the bout with a 5-0 verdict.
Sachin will now face Ukraine’s Abduraimov Aider in the semifinals.
Playing his first bout of the tournament after receiving bye in the pre-quarters, Rajat (67kg) wasted no time and straight went into aggressive mode.
Within 37 seconds, Rajat delivered a straight jab, breaking his opponent’s defence and disbalancing him, causing the referee to stop the bout and declare Rajat the winner by knockout. He will take on Georgia’s Guruli Lasha in the semifinals .
Lalit (54kg) made a quarter-final exit after losing the bout against Uzbekistan’s Nortojiev Khujanazar.
The Indian was put on the back foot from the start by the former world youth bronze medallist. His relentless attack combined with quick feet became lethal as the bout progressed, resulting in a 0-5
Later, Naveen Kumar (92kg) made his way into the semifinals with a 4-1 win over Kuttybekov Abzal of Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, Jugnoo (86kg) and Sagar (+92kg) bowed out of the tournament with an identical 0-5 loss against Uzbekistan’s boxers.