Baku: Indian boxers Satish Kumar (+91kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) registered easy wins over their respective opponents to enter the second round of the World Olympic Qualification tournament here. Satish thrashed Manase Kaho Raikadroga of Tonga 3-0 in his first round clash while Sumit outclassed Trinidad’s Andrew Fermin by a similar margin.
Satish is expected to face a stern test in the next round as he will be up against an experienced opponent in Dean Gardiner of Ireland. Things are not expected to be too easy for Sumit either as the 23-year-old will fight eighth seed Juan Carlos Carrilo Palacio of Colombia in his second-round contest.
However, the joy in he Indian camp was tempered by the fact that Dheeraj Rangi (60kg) crashed out after putting up a brave fight against top seed Lindolfo Garza of Mexico in a well-contested bout. Rangi, a silver medalist at last year’s World Military Games, gave his fancied opponent some anxious moments before going down 1-2 in the second round contest.
The ongoing tournament offers a total of 39 Olympic spots. The flyweight (52 kg), bantamweight (56 kg), lightweight (60 kg), light welterweight (64 kg), welterweight (69 kg), middleweight (75 kg) and light heavyweight (81 kg) categories will see the top five boxers in each class make the cut for Rio while both finalists in the light flyweight (49 kg) division will qualify.
However, only the gold medal winners in the heavyweight (91 kg) and super heavyweight (91+ kg) divisions will be able to travel to Rio.
