Asian Games 2018: Had to take revenge against Dusmatov, says Amit Panghal after winning gold

Amit Panghal, the young pugilist scripted history in Asian Games after beating Olympic champion Uzbekistan's Hasanboy Dusmatov in the 49kg category. He is a thrilled person ever since he extracted revenge for his previous defeats.

"I had lost to him before, so I had to take revenge. Coach Santiago (Nieva) and other coaches had prepared me well. In the semifinal, I did not play the first round well, here I did not repeat that mistake," Panghal was quoted as saying by India Today. 

The young man who created an upset of sorts by beating Hasanboy 3-2 credited his training in England earlier this year for the remarkable result. He helped India bag the 14th gold medal of the Asian Games.

'The training in England helped me'

"The coach asked me get him on counter-attack. The training in England and at the camp in India helped. I had sparred with southpaw boxers at both places. I knew how to take advantage of the uppercut," Panghal added.

Panghal was the only Indian who made it to the finals of any boxing event this year and his coach Santiago Nieva, who is also Indian boxing's High-Performance Director and men's chief coach, believed that Amit is an explosive boxer. 

"We knew he is an explosive boxer, so we asked Amit to stay away from him. Amit had not played a great first round in his semifinal but today he was good, so he did not have to catch up and he connected his punches," Nieva said.

Speaking about the bout, Nieva said that Uzbek started rapidly but his punches did not land and this tired him out as the rounds progressed. However, he sounded disappointed about the result of other boxers who did not bring justice to the label associated with them.

Apart from Amit's win, India's only other medal in boxing was a bronze when Vikas Krishan pulled out before his semi-final clash in the middle-weight category owing to an eye injury.