World youth champion Ankushita Boro prevailed over Namuun Monkhor of Mongolia while Abhimanyu Loura lost to Ireland’s Kelyn Cassidy at the World Olympic Boxing Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand.
In the women’s 60kg category, Boro, the first Indian woman in action in what is the final chance for boxers to obtain an Olympic quota, began strongly against her young Mongolian opponent.
She effectively blunted Monkhor’s speed to win the bout 4-1 after three keenly contested rounds.
However, it was not an outing to remember for Loura in the second round of the men’s 80kg weight category.
Cassidy, a two-time Irish champion, dominated the Indian boxer and won 5-0 by unanimous decision despite Loura giving his all in the final round.
Loura, a national championships bronze medallist, came into the clash high on confidence after beating Bulgaria’s 10-time national champion Kristiyan Nikolov in the first round
On Tuesday, Sachin Siwach (57kg), Abhinash Jamwal (63.5kg) and Nishant Dev (71kg) will look to continue their quest for an Olympic quota.
Sachin will face Frederik Jensen of Denmark, Jamwal will take on Colombia’s Jose Manuel Viafara Fory while Nishant Dev will meet Otgonbaatar Byamba-Erdene of Mongolia later.
So far, India have secured three Paris 2024 Olympic boxing quotas through Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (women’s 75kg), two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen (women’s 50kg) and Preeti Pawar (women’s 54kg).
India have fielded seven men and three women for the second World Olympic Qualifier in an attempt to obtain more Paris 2024 Olympics quotas.
At the Thailand meet, three quotas are up for grabs in the women’s 60kg, men’s 57kg and men’s 80kg divisions. The men’s 63.5kg and 71kg divisions each have five quotas on offer while the remaining nine categories have four each.
Indian boxers drew a blank at the first World Boxing Qualification Tournament held in Busto Arsizio, Italy in March.