By Julien Pretot and Aadi Nair
PARIS (Reuters) -Imane Khelif, the boxer at the centre of a gender dispute, beat Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng by unanimous decision in a welterweight semi-final fight at the Paris Games on Tuesday to progress to the final at Roland Garros.
Khelif, a silver medallist at the 2022 worlds, and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting have been in the spotlight at the Olympics as part of a storm that has dominated headlines and been the subject of much discussion on social media platforms.
In a cautious first round, both boxers attempted to keep their distance and engaged sparingly, but Khelif used her jab to better effect than her Thai opponent.
Suwannapheng connected with a big right hand in the second, but the rangy Algerian’s excellent technique allowed her to keep landing shots and sweep the judge’s scorecards.
Khelif threw caution to the wind and went after Suwannapheng in the final round, peppering her with jarring shots to claim the win by unanimous decision.
Both boxers touched gloves in a sign of respect after the fight and when Khelif was announced as winner, a deafening roar erupted from the fans in attendance.
Khelif waited until her opponent left the ring before celebrating, jogging on the spot with an enormous grin on her face before leaving and shadow-boxing her way to the doctor’s station for a quick medical check.
Khelif will face either Taiwan’s Chen Nien-chin or Yang Liu of China in the final on Friday.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot, Philip O’Connor, Ashraf Hamed Atta, Layli Foroudi and Aadi Nair in ParisEditing by Toby Davis)
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