Amit Panghal and a silver worth its weight in gold

He might have missed a historic gold, but Amit Panghal can hold his head high, having achieved a feat no other male Indian boxer has—winning a silver medal at the World Boxing Championships.

The Asian Games and the Asian Championships gold-medallist went down 0-5 to reigning Olympic champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan in the 52kg category. Once again up against a taller and more muscular opponent, Panghal gave it his all but fell short when it came to connecting accurately.

Panghal, 23, has been phenomenal ever since he won the gold at the National Boxing Championships 2017, and followed it up with an Asian Championship bronze the same year.

He qualified for the World Championships 2017, but was beaten in the quarterfinal by Rio Olympics champion Hasanboy Dusmatov. The Haryana boxer, however, took revenge by beating him twice after that—at the 2018 Asian Games final and the Asian Championships this year.

He is also India's only boxer to claim consecutive gold medals in one of Europe's oldest and most prestigious tournaments—the Strandja Memorial.

He changed his weight category from 49kg to 52kg a few months ago this year after the former division was dropped from the Olympic roster.

Son of Chaudhary Vijender Singh, a farmer in Mayna village of Rohtak district, Panghal was introduced to the sport by his brother Ajay, a former amateur pugilist and an Army man.

The pint-sized dynamo from Rohtak, who is a Naib Subedar in the Indian Army, unwinds by watching Dharmendra's films and loves home-cooked Punjabi food.

Panghal, reportedly, is training hard under coaches Santiago Nieva and C.A. Kuttappa for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Having been included in the government's Target Olympic Podium Scheme recently, Panghal is one of the prime medal contenders next year.

(With PTI inputs)