Indian tigers outwit China Dragons in World Series Boxing 2018 and recorded two consecutive victories. After edging past Russia’s Patriot Boxing Team 3-2 on Saturday, the Indian Tigers pounded China Dragons 4-1 with Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medallist Mandeep Jangra (75kg) and 19-year-old Mohammed Etash Khan (56kg) recording impressive wins over Haerheng Wulepar and Boxiang Zhu respectively.
India faced three straight defeats before bagging two back-to-back wins, as they are still in contention of making the WSB play-offs for which only the top eight franchises will qualify.
India are currently placed ninth in the standings and still have the away leg tie against the Chinese franchise on April 27 left on their schedule.
If the Tigers manage to win the tie, they will make the best chance of qualifying for the play-offs, which would be a first for India in the semi-professional event where boxers compete in five-round bouts.
Among other winners tonight was two-time King’s Cup bronze-medallist Rohit Tokas (64kg) who got a walkover from Shengze Qi after he reported sick before the bout. The depleted Chinese squad did not have a boxer to field in the 91kg category, which had given Sanjeet a win even before the weigh-ins were done on Friday.
Earlier last night, three-time Asian-medallist Shiva Thapa (60kg) and World Championships quarterfinalist Kavinder Bisht (52kg) pulled off victories in a close win over the strong Russian squad, which had lost just one tie before coming up against India.
The third Indian winner last night was Narender (+91kg). While it was Shiva’s debut for the Tigers, Kavinder fought his second bout for the franchise and kept his unbeaten record intact.
However, three-time King’s Cup gold medallist Shyam Kumar (49 kg) lost to Zhonglin Wu 1-2 in the lone disappointing loss for India yesterday.
- India is placed at 3rd position in Group C followed by China at number 4. Kazakhstan and Russian franchise lead the tables.
- India is currently placed at number 9 in overall standings, top 8 teams will qualify for the play-offs.
- British Lionhearts lead the overall team standings
