Boxam meet: Tokyo-bound Vikas Krishan, Ashish Kumar, Satish Kumar and Manish Kaushik among 6 Indian men to reach finals
Tokyo-bound Vikas Krishan, Ashish Kumar, Satish Kumar, and Manish Kaushik were among the six Indian male boxers to reach the finals of the Boxam meet in Castellon, Spain on Friday.
Vikas Krishan defeated Kazakhstan's Ablaikhan Zhussupov in the 69kg semi-final by split decision.
In addition to Vikas Krishan, three other Tokyo-bound Indians also won their semi-final bouts by split decision.
Manish Kaushik overcame France's Lounes Hamraoui in the 63 kg category, while Ashish Kumar defeated Romanian Dumitru Vicol in the 75kg category. Satish Kumar beat Jonas Jazevicius of Lithuania in the +91kg category.
Sumit Sangwan and Mohammad Hussamuddin join Vikas Krishan and co. in the Boxam meet finals
Two other Indian men also recorded semi-final wins at the Boxam meet on Friday.
In the 81kg category, Sumit Sangwan defeated Frenchman Raphael Monny via unanimous decision, while Mohammad Hussamuddin beat Panama's Orlando Martinez in the 57kg by split decision.
Having assured themselves of a silver medal, all six Indian men will box for gold at the Boxam meet on Saturday.
Five Indian men have already qualified for boxing at the Tokyo Olympics later this year. The list includes Vikas Krishan, Ashish Kumar, Satish Kumar, Manish Kaushik, and Amit Panghal.
Panghal, the World No.1 in the 52 kg category, also participated in the Boxam meet, but he was defeated in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
In the women's section, three Indians - Jasmine, Simranjit Kaur and Pooja Rani - advanced to the finals and will box for gold on Saturday.
However, Indian boxing legend MC Mary Kom went down fighting in her 51kg semi-final bout against American Virginia Fuchs by split decision.