New Delhi: Shiva Thapa (60kg) is now one win away from securing a record fourth medal from the Asian Boxing Championships as a total of 5 Indian boxers entered the quarter-finals on Day 3 of this prestigious continental tournament in Bangkok, Thailand. The Assam pugilist was at his destructive best and outpunched Kyrgyzstan’s Seitbek Uulu M 4-1 to march into the quarter-finals. Four-time Asian Championships gold medallist Sarita Devi began her hunt for a staggering sixth medal from this elite event in highly impressive fashion.
The 37-year-old blanked Korea’s Gwon Sujin and stormed into the quarter-finals by dint of RSC (Referee Stop Contest) in Round 3 as she was too dominant for her opponent. Agile and sharp as ever, Asian Games gold medallist Amit Panghal opened his campaign and made it to the last-eight with a 5-0 decimation of Taipei’s Tu Po-Wei in his first continental competitive bout in the 52 Kg. Panghal continues his sublime form this year after starting the new season with a glittering gold from the Strandja Cup and will hope to record his second consecutive victory over the reigning Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov in the highly-anticipated quarter-final showdown.
Former world junior champion Nikhat Zareen (51kg) was at her imperious best in her opening bout against Cambodia’s Srey Pov Nao. The Telengana pugilist, who started the season with a gold medal at the Strandja Cup, advanced to the quarters by RSC in Round 2 as she was superior and her rival couldn’t contain the flurry of punches. In men’s 69kg, Ashish continued his scintillating run of form with a strong 4-1 win over Abdurakhman Abdurakhmanov of Kyrgyzstan in a split verdict to book his quarter-final berth.
The only disappointment for the Indian contingent on Sunday was the defeat of Brijesh Yadav in 81kg. Yadav’s opponent, Dilshodbek Ruzmetov of Uzbekistan was declared a 4-0 winner after he received a cut in Round 2 of the bout. That necessitated termination of the match and based on the two rounds of performances, the judges scored in favour of the Uzbek.
