The 23-year-old Naib Subedar in the Indian Army said the Pulwama terror attack, which claimed the lives of 44 CRPF personnel, was on his mind through the tournament.
In the evening session, Sumit faced Russia's Pavel Sosulin in his first bout and made a bright start. He used his powerful punches to good effect and took the first round by 3-2 before winning the second round by the same scoreline.
Here are some of the controversies, which cast a shadow on Indian sport as the athletes prepared for the Asian Games.
In another disappointment for India, Iran's Meysam Gheslaghi defeated Sumit Sangwan in the men's light heavyweight (81kg) division in a late Monday night bout.
Nikhat emerges as India's biggest star in a year filled with historic performances
The IOA ad-hoc committee on Wednesday decided to hold much-awaited Asian Games wrestling trials on July 22-23.
For most part, Indian boxing had lots to celebrate and it started with the season-opening Strandja Memorial, one of Europe's oldest and most competitive tournaments.
A resolute Vikas Krishan (69kg) and Simranjit Kaur (60kg) advanced to the finals with impressive victories but the legendary M C Mary Kom (51kg) and world number one Amit Panghal (52kg) settled for bronze medals at the Asian/Oceanian Olympic Qualifiers, in Amman, on Tuesday. Also ending with bronze medals were Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg). All the six boxers have already secured their tickets to the Olympic Games by making the semi-finals but Krishan and Kaur will come back with at least silver medals after entering the finals.
Team India will compete in 15 sporting disciplines as well as four disciplines in the para sports category.
India, on the other hand, finished runners-up twice in 2010 and 2014 editions.
World championship trials would be held from March 7 to 9, followed by the Asiad trials from March 10 to 13.
Sumit storms into Thailand open boxing semi-finals
In the lightweight (57-60kg) division, Jasmine will feature straight in the quarter-finals after getting a first round bye.
The Indian boxing team, which landed in Birmingham on Monday, wasted no time as they immediately started their practice for the mega-event.
Mary Kom fought back in the final three minutes but that was not enough to get the judges' nod.
Phogat alleged that Yogeshwar had laughed off the sexual harassment complaints against the WFI chief during the oversight panel hearings
Amit Panghal (52kg) and Kavinder Singh Bisht (56kg) remained on course for their second successive international gold medals this year and India looked good to notch up its best ever performance in the Asian Boxing Championships.
India's champion athletes returned to a rousing reception when they landed home on Tuesday after their spectacular showing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
A look at India's schedule at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, July 31, 2021.
Ace Indian boxer Shiva Thapa began his Commonwealth Games campaign on a rousing note by defeating Pakistan's Suleman Baloch in the first round of the 63.5kg category, in Birmingham, on Friday.
MC Mary Kom and the seasoned L Sarita Devi spearheaded India's gold rush at the second India Open boxing tournament, which concluded on Friday.
'Watch our Indian athletes in Tokyo Olympics,' Virat Kohli said in a video
A former world champion, Sindhu is one of the favourites to win the women's singles gold medal in Birmingham, having won the silver and bronze in the last two editions at Gold Coast and Glasgow.
India had delivered its best ever Asian Championship performance in the 2019 edition in Thailand, claiming 13 medals, including two gold, four silver and seven bronze.
'The judges won't be giving me points for my looks or height.' 'All I know is my punches are important and I just go about throwing them at my opponent.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded India's athletes for their spectacular showing at the Tokyo Olympics, saying their tremendous show has inspired the youth of the country.
Satish Kumar (+91kg) put up a gutsy performance against reigning World champion Bakhodir Jalolov but it was not enough to upstage the rampaging Uzbek and the Indian boxer made a quarter-final exit from the Olympic Games on Sunday.
Deepak clinched one of the most memorable wins of his career with a 4-1 win over more fancied Zoirov
The pugilists were due to start training later this month or early in August after the Boxing Federation of India got the SAI nod to conduct the national camp amid the pandemic.
A livid Mary Kom asked her vanquished opponent Nikhat Zareen to prove herself in the ring instead of making irritating comments.
The development was confirmed by a source close to the team, which is training at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
In hockey, the women's team continued its inspiring run with a silver medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Aiming to secure berths in the world championship squad, close to 400 boxers, including the likes of five-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa and former world bronze-winner Gaurav Bidhuri, will be competing in the National Men's Championships starting in Bellary on Wednesday.
Asian Games bronze-winner Satish Kumar (+91kg) kicked off his campaign with an impressive 5-0 win over Moldova's Zavantin Alexel to make the last-four stage and be assured of at least a bronze.
They showed big hearts. They were unfazed by the stature of their rivals and that's what is very important. You respect your rival but don't get intimidated by his CV, says India's High-Performance Director Santiago Nieva.
India's nine Olympic-bound boxers will travel abroad for a three-week training stint after getting a few days' break following a record-shattering medal haul by the country's pugilists at the recently-concluded Asian Championships in Dubai.
Slipping out of the usual top-five was seen as a real possibility in absence of shooting but phenomenal success in athletics and lawn bowls propelled India to a commendable fourth place finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
Debutant boxer Amit Panghal (49kg) continued his sensational run to make the final with a hard-fought win but an injured Vikas Krishan (75kg) had to settle for bronze after being declared medically unfit for his semifinal at the 18th Asian Games, in Jakarta, on Friday.
A summary of Indian athletes' performance on Day 7 of the Games.
