Defending champion Amit Panghal (52kg) and Shiva Thapa (64kg), along with one another Indian, stormed into the Asian Boxing Championship finals after clinching resounding victories even as an injured Vikas Krishan (69kg) signed off with a bronze medal here on Friday. Olympic-bound Panghal out-punched familiar foe Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan 5-0.

Thapa, the first Indian male boxer in the tournament history to secure five medals, dominated top-seeded defending champion Bakhodur Usmonov of Tajikistan to make the finals with a 4-0 verdict. Joining them in the finals was Sanjeet (91kg), who got the better of previous edition's silver-medallist Sanjar Tursunov of Uzbekistan. Sanjeet won the bout 5-0 to enter the finals. However, Vikas, also bound for the Tokyo Games, endured a split decision loss to top seed and defending champion Baturov Bobo-Usmon of Uzbekistan. The bout lasted less than one round as Vikas' eye injury, sustained in the previous bout, aggravated forcing the referee to stop the contest. Also ending with a bronze was tournament debutant and national champion Varinder Singh (60kg) after a high-intensity clash against Iran's Daniyal Shahbakhsh.