Satish Kumar is the first super heavyweight (+91 kg) Indian boxer to compete in the Olympics.
Indian boxers Pooja Rani and Satish Kumar have sailed into the quarterfinals of their debut Games at Tokyo Olympics. Pooja defeated Ichrak Chaib of Algeria in her opening bout in the 75 kg category and entered the quarterfinals on Wednesday. The two-time Asian champion easily triumphed over her 10-year junior opponent with a score of 5-0. The 30-year-old Indian reigned all three rounds by counter-attacking Ms Chaib as she failed to hit powerfully and missed the target area.
On the other hand, Indian boxer Satish Kumar too entered the quarterfinals by defeating Ricardo Brown of Jamaica on Thursday. Mr Kumar is the first super heavyweight (+91 kg) Indian boxer to compete in the Olympics. Despite the split verdict, the two-time Asian Championships bronze-medallist Satish won the bout with a score of 4-1. Though the 32-year-old Indian suffered injuries- two cuts on his forehead and one on his chin, due to three head butts during the bout, he managed to win.
Mr Brown lost because of his poor footwork, otherwise he could have won as "he was huge and powerful," said India's High Performance Director Santiago Nieva. The next bout will be tough for Mr Kumar as he will face Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan, who is the reigning world and Asian champion.
The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.