APB-WSB Olympic Qualification Event – Day4 Semi-final Report

Ruenroeng and Tharumalingam qualified for the Olympic Games today

Thailand’s veteran professional boxer Amnat Ruenroeng and Qatar’s Thulasi Tharumalingam both were amazing in the semi-finals of the APB/WSB Olympic Qualification Event on Day4 after the rest day in Vargas, Venezuela. Both boxers won their key bouts today and qualified for the boxing tournament of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Thailand’s lone boxer is their professional world champion Amnat Ruenroeng who was Olympian in Beijing eight years ago and claimed bronze medal at the 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Chicago. This time he boxed at the Lightweight class (60 kg) where he was seeded and started his campaign against a tough German boxer, Artur Bril. Ruenroeng, who was World Champion in professional boxing, eliminated his German rival and met with Italy’s Carmine Tommasone in the important semi-final. Thailand’s 38-year-old veteran was enough fresh to take the lead after three minutes of fight and continued the strong performance in the second round. Ruenroeng was better and more accurate today than Tommasone and qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as fifth Thai boxer.
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. Tharumalingam continued his winning path in the semi-final against Argentina’s Carlos Aquino and qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as second Qatari boxer.
South Korea’s Shin Jong Hun was silver medallist at the 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships following his bronze in 2009. The London 2012 Olympian Korean boxer was gold medallist at the Incheon 2014 Asian Games and after his suspension he returned to the world of boxing in time. The South Korean Light Flyweight class (49 kg) boxer was too strong for Ukraine’s Nazar Kurotchyn in the quarter-final but he could not advance to the gold medal bout following his loss to Mexico’s Joselito Velasquez. Shin Jong Hun can fight for the last available Olympic spot against Argentina’s Leandro Blanc tomorrow.
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 was Germany’s AIBA World Boxing Championships bronze medallist Araik Marutjan. The Indian boxer was not enough accurate in their contest and lost his semi-final but he has got the chance to get the last Olympic ticket in the upcoming Box-off tomorrow when he will meet with Spain’s Youba Ndiaye Sissokho.
China’s Mu Haipeng is a promising boxer at the Super Heavyweight class (+91 kg) who replaced Wang Zhibao in the national squad. He is only 21 but had enough experiences and freshness to control his quarter-final contest in the important qualification event. Mu Haipeng eliminated Algeria’s French-based professional boxer Newfel Ouatah in the quarter-finals and did sensational performance in the first round against Ukraine’s favourite Rostyslav Arkhypenko. The Chinese boxer had a brave attempt to beat his Ukrainian rival but Arkhypenko was able to control the second and the third rounds.