Amman: World Championships bronze medallist Manish Kaushik (63kg) won a historic ninth Tokyo Olympic quota for India when he upset the Commonwealth Games champion and second seed Harrison Garside of Australia 4-1 in the box-off bout at the Asian/Oceanian Olympic Qualifiers in Amman, Jordan today.
This is India’s highest-ever haul of Olympic quotas, surpassing the eight they had earned at the 2012 London Games. The nine quotas also ensured that this was India’s highest ever qualification from a single qualifier.
The other eight quotas have been brought home by Mary Kom (51kg), Amit Panghal (52kg), Pooja Rani (75kg), Ashish Kumar (75kg), Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Satish Kumar (+91kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (69kg).
India has a chance to add further with the boxers, who failed in their quest at the Asian Qualifiers, getting one more opportunity to realize their Olympic dream at the World Qualifiers to be held in Paris in May.
India’s brilliant performance at the Asian Qualifiers also propelled them to the top position, where they are tied with Kazakhstan among 10 nations.
Sachin Kumar (81kg), however, did not have the same fortune as he was blanked 0-5 by Tajikistan’s Shabbos Negmatulloev in the box-off final.
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games champion Vikas Krishan (69kg) had to settle for the silver medal after a left eye injury forced him to give a walkover to Jordan’s Zeyad Eashash on medical advice.
