New Delhi: World championships bronze medallist Nishant Dev (71kg) received a favorable draw, while other Indian boxers face tougher draws in the boxing competitions of the Paris Olympics, which start at the North Paris Arena on Saturday.
World champions Nikhat Zareen (50kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) will need to work harder to get closer to medals. Former Worlds silver medallist Amit Panghal (51kg) might have a challenging outing.
Nishant received a bye and will face Ecuador’s Rodriguez Tenorio in his first bout. If he gets past the Ecuadorian, he may meet Mexico’s Pan American Games champion Merco Verde in the quarterfinals.
Nikhat will face Germany’s Maxi Klotzer in the first round. If she progresses to the second round, she will have to fight top-seeded Chinese Asian Games champion and 52kg world champion Wu Yu. A win over Wu could pit Nikhat against another strong rival, Thailand’s eighth-seeded Asian Games silver medallist Chuthamat Raksat, who had beaten her in the Asian Games semis.
Eighth-seeded world champion Lovlina, a 69kg Tokyo bronze medallist, will take on Norway’s Sunniva Hofstad in the first round. If she reaches the second round, she is likely to face old rival and top-seeded two-time Olympic medallist Li Qian, who had beaten her in the Asian Games gold medal match. A win for Lovlina could lead to a duel with either fifth-seeded Worlds silver medallist Caitlin Parker of Australia or Morocco’s world champion, fourth-seeded Khadija El-Mardi, in the quarterfinals.
Panghal has received a first-round bye and will meet Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and African Games champion Patrick Chinyemba of Zambia in the second round. If the seasoned Indian, who beat Chinyemba in the semifinals on his way to the Commonwealth gold medal, gets past the Zambian, he will take on Thailand’s Olympian and Asian Games silver medallist Thitisan Panmot in the quarterfinals.
A win over the Thai may set the stage for the Indian to face Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Kazakh Saken Bibossinov or World champion and former Olympic medallist Uzbek Hasanboy Dusmatov in the semifinals.
Asian Games bronze medallist Preeti Pawar, who faced health issues during the camp in Saarbrucken, will take on Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh in the first round. If successful, she’ll go up against Worlds silver medallist Yeni Arias of Colombia. A victory there could lead to a clash with Korean Olympian Im-Ae-Ji in the 54kg quarterfinals.
Jaismine Lamboria faces a formidable challenge as she opens her campaign against Olympic silver medallist Philippines’ Nesthy Petecio in the 57kg category. If she pulls off an upset, she will next face French European Games gold medallist Aminia Zidani.
