APB-WSB Olympic Qualification Event – Day2 Report

Thulasi Tharumalingam

Three Asian boxers won key contests in the APB-WSB Olympic Qualification Event in Vargas

The last chance for all of the boxers is the APB/WSB Olympic Qualification Event which is holding in Vargas, Venezuela and the Asian athletes boxed from today. The finals and the box-offs will be held on July 8 when 26 quota places will be found their owners in the ten men weight classes.
The city hosted the last edition of the AMBC American Confederation Boxing Championships ten months ago in the highest level and after the grand opening ceremony Vargas will see top contests today. 79 boxers from 40 nations have been there in the official weigh-in in Vargas and among them 9 Asian athletes will be trying to get the spots for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Thailand’s lone boxer will be their professional world champion Amnat Ruenroeng who was Olympian in Beijing and claimed bronze medal at the 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships. This time he will be boxing at the Lightweight class (60 kg) where he was seeded and will be starting his campaign against a German boxer, Artur Bril. Ruenroeng, who was World Champion in professional boxing, dominated the first two rounds against his German rival and advanced to the semi-final of the Qualifiers.
India’s Dilbag Singh has been competing in the international level since 2006 and moved up to the Light Heavyweight class (81 kg) since he turned to professional. The Indian veteran returned to the AIBA competitions but he was not enough fresh in his bout against Moldova’s young talent Petru Ciobanu and could not qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Qatar’s Thulasi Tharumalingam competed well enough in the AIBA Pro Boxing in the recent one year and he reached the level of the best boxers at the Light Welterweight class (64 kg). The Qatari boxer demonstrated his power and used the best tactic against Italy’s Massimiliano Ballisai in his opening bout in Vargas. The Italian returned from the professional world but Qatar’s hope did not give him any chance in the quarter-final.
India’s Neeraj Goyat had a few god results in the national and international tournaments before he turned to professional in 2013. The Indian boxer moved up to the Welterweight class (69 kg) since his last appearance but he was well prepared to the competition in Vargas. Goyat controlled his fight over Greece’s Dimitrios Poulikos Tsagrakos and advanced to the semi-finals where his next opponent will be Germany’s Araik Marutjan.