Asian games gold medallist Amit Panghal nominated for prestigious Arjuna award

New Delhi, September 12: Amit Panghal, a young Indian boxer who won the gold medal at Asian Games was nominated for this year's Arjuna awards by the Boxing Federation of India on Tuesday.

 

Notably, Amit Panghal bagged a Gold medal in recently concluded Asian Games in the light flyweight (49kg) category after defeating reigning Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan.

The 22-year-old Amit who is only the eighth Indian boxer to claim an Asiad gold has joined Sonia Lather and Gaurav Bidhuri in the list of boxing nominees for the second highest sporting honour after the Khel Ratna.

Amit Panghal thanked boxing federation for his nomination in a tweet. He said, “Thank you boxing federation of India for nominating me for prestigious Arjun Award. I feel honoured. Will continue working hard to bring more glory to my country.”

Amit, in the year 2017, won bronze in the Asian Championships. He followed it up by making the quarters in just his debut World Championships, losing a close contest to Dusmatov in August. However, in February this year, he claimed a gold medal in the India Open in Delhi and the prestigious Strandja Memorial Tournament in Bulgaria. He had also won a silver medal in Commonwealth Games.

Importantly, the National Sports Awards ceremony, held on August 29 every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, but this year it will be organized on September 25. The change in schedule was done because of the clash of dates with the Asian Games, which concluded on September 2 in Jakarta.