Paris Olympics 2024: Indian boxers Amit Panghal, Preeti Powar And Jasmine Lamboria Disappoint

India’s Amit Panghal couldn't keep his place at the Paris Olympics 2024 and eventually crashed out of the Men’s 51 kg Boxing event against Zambia’s Patrick Chinyemba at the North Paris Arena On Tuesday.

It has been a tough tournament for Indian boxers as Jasmine Lamboria and Preeti Powar also lost their fight later that day and exited the tournament. It was very much unfortunate for Panghal as he had earlier defeated Patrick Chinyemba in CWG 2022 in Birmingham to clinch the gold but he struggled against the Zambian this time and lost the match by a 4-1 split decision.

Looking back at the match, Patrick took full advantage of his height and quick footwork while landing punches on Amit. The Indian Olympian couldn't rise to the occasion as he failed to cope with Patrick’s sting-and-flee strategy and was edged out in the first two rounds.  Losing to Patrick was not only a shock for Amit but also for the whole nation. 

Later that day, Jasmine Lamboria was also knocked out after being defeated by Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines, a silver medal winner from the Tokyo Olympics and former world champion in round of 32. Jasmine couldn't handle Petecio’s raw speed and found herself ineffective in the ring and lost the bout with a 5-0 unanimous decision.

Preeti Pawar also couldn't make it past the second round in the women’s 54kg as the 20-year-old who defeated Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh in her opening bout lost to Colombian Yeni Arias in the Pre-Quarterfinals. Arias, the World Champion Silver Medalist and also a Pan American Games Champion, edged the Indian youngster by a 3-2 split decision.

The trio’s exit on Tuesday left the Indian boxing community surprised.

Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain won their first match bout in the women's 50 kg and women's 75kg categories respectively while Nishant Dev (Men’s 71kg) will start his campaigns from the pre-quarterfinals.