Amman (Jordan), March 4 19-year-old Sakshi Chaudhary (57kg) pulled off an upset over fourth seed and Asian Championship silver medallist Nilawan Techasuep of Thailand to come within one win of sealing qualification to Tokyo 2020 at the boxing Asian Olympic qualifiers on Wednesday. She will now face Republic of Korea's Aeji Im on March 9.
"She was the fourth seed and the plan that the coaches set for me was to fight on the counter," said Sakshi after the bout. "I did that succesfully throughout the bout and she was getting hit every time," she pointed.
The experienced Techasuep was the favourite going into the bout but the first round was an even contest. Sakshi was awarded the round on split verdict.
The second round looked a different story with the Thai boxer landing a barrage of punches on her junior opponent. Sakshi managed to land a few punches on the counter however, which could have helped sway the judges in her favour as she ended up winning the round by split decision too.
Sakshi was clearly ahead in the third round with most of her punches finding the target. Techasuep was tiring out towards the end, pushing Sakshi to the rope while the latter was in control. The bout was awarded 4-1 in Sakshi's favour in the end.
( With inputs from IANS )