Indian boxing veteran Shiva Thapa progressed to the semifinals of the 5th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championships as he defeated Railways Sports Promotion Board’s (RSPB) Ankit Narwal. It was a thrilling quarter final tie held at the Inspire Institute of Sports in Bellary, Karnataka on Sunday.
The five-time Asian championship medallist showed tremendous footwork to tilt the bout in his favour. He used his experience and precise punches to put his opponent under a lot of pressure. Narwal gave him a tough challenge but Thapa was determined to win and he did not allow the momentum to shift towards his opponent. The Assan based pugilist eventually won 4-1 in the 63.5kg quarter-final at the National Boxing Championships.
Railways had their fair share of joy on the day as Sachin and Varinder Singh (60kg) won their bouts and progressed to the semifinals. Sachin was dominant against Goa’s Roshan Zamir as he won the clash with unanimous judgement in the 54kg category quarterfinals. His teammate Varinder Singh, 2021 Asian Championships bronze medallist also matched Sachin’s performance and his respective bout against Daman and Diu’s boxer Inderjit Singh to qualify for the last four.
In the 48kg category, Uttar Pradesh’s Ravi Kumar has reached the semifinals and is looking like the man to watch out for. Ravi started the semifinals with great intent and aggression as he defeated Santosh Pradhan from Odisha. He completely dominated the bout and his powerful punches forced the referee to stop the clash and declare him the winner.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Mohammed Hussamuddin has also lived up to expectations as he has reached the semifinals in the 57kg category after he knocked out Maharastra’s Rushikesh Gaud.
Vijay Kumar (60kg) and Rajpinder Singh (54kg) both from Punjab also imposed their authority in their respective quarterfinals bouts to register their names in the semifinals. While Vijay defeated Manipur’s Myson Moirangthem, Rajpinder was dominant over Vishal Sheokand of Chandigarh.
Very exciting semifinal bouts await the talented boxers who are in it to challenge for the spots in the 2021 AIBA Men’s World Boxing Championships. Gold medallists from the nationals will be selected to represent India at this massive event which will be held in Serbia from next month.
