By IANS
Chicago/New Delhi : Anthresh Lalit Lakra defeated Shahin Imranov of Azerbaijan to advance to the featherweight (57 kg) quarterfinals in the World Boxing Championships and became the first Indian pugilist to confirm a place in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The Indian Navy boxer easily won 15-9 at the University of Illinois-Chicago’s UIC Pavillion Tuesday afternoon.
All eight quarterfinalists in the 11 weight categories automatically qualify for the 2008 Olympics.
Not much was expected from the Jharkhand boxer, who had lost in the quarterfinals at the Military World Games 2007 in Hyderabad two weeks ago. Lakra won his maiden national title in August to merit selection for the world championships.
He has been living in the shadow of Diwakar Prasad, who missed the national championships in New Delhi because he was unwell, and now the Services man has made the most of his chances.
“Lakra did not have many chances to represent India because he kept losing to Diwakar at the domestic level. His only previous success was a gold medal in the 2005 Commonwealth Boxing Championships at Glasgow, Scotland,” Colonel P.K. Muralidharan Raja, secretary of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation, said here.
“It was a lucky break for Lakra and now he has made the most of the opportunity. It was a disappointment when he did not finish among the medals in the Military World Games after defeating a North Korean (Won Il Kim). He then lost to a Tunisian (Shili Alee),” Raja told IANS.
“In Chicago, he has beaten South Korea’s Ju Min Jae and Imranov of Azerbaijan, both strong medal prospects.”
Interestingly, Lakra’s nemesis at home, Diwakar Prasad, has been trained by the Navy pugilist’s father Ernest Lakra, the Steel Plants Sports Board coach at Jamshedpur.
“It’s quite amusing to see the father in the opposite corner plotting his son’s downfall when Diwakar and Lakra met in the ring at home; invariably, the father’s tactics proved more successful,” noted Raja.
Lakra had defeated Stephen Smith of England in the August 2005 meeting in Scotland while Diwakar was pounded by the same boxer at the Melbounre Commonwelath Games a few months later.
“Now that Lakra has finally made it to Beijing, let’s hope he can win an Olympic medal for India,” said the IABF secretary.
Jitender Kumar (51 kg) and Jai Bhagwan (60 kg) will take the ring Wednesday local time (Thursday morning India) to try and book their passage to Beijing.
Lakra next faces China’s Li Yin, 13-4 winner over Carlos Zambrano Cordova of Peru for a semi-final place in the tournament and figure among the medal winners.
Both losing semi-finalists receive bronze medals in international boxing competitions.