Shiva Thapa knocked out of Men’s World Boxing Championships, Berwal, Sahani, and Kumar progress

Ace Indian boxer Shiva Thapa suffered a shocking defeat in the Men’s World Boxing Championships, while three other Indian pugilists advanced to the pre-quarterfinals in Belgrade, Serbia, on Thursday. Shiva Thapa, the 2015 bronze medalist who had received a bye in the first round, was defeated 3-4 by Dos Reis Yuri of Brazil. Despite making a good recovery from his sluggish start, the Army man faltered in the final two minutes, costing him the bout as he failed to get the majority vote in the review. As the second seed, Thapa was expected to go much further in the competition.

Berwal, Sahani, and Kumar progress

On the bright side, Narender Berwal (92kg), Govind Sahani (48kg), and Deepak Kumar (51kg) progressed to the pre-quarterfinals. Berwal began his quest for a medal by defeating Muhammad Abroridinov of Tajikistan 4-1. The Hisar-born pugilist continued to attack on the front foot in the next two rounds and won the bout. He will face the 2021 World Youth Championships bronze medallist Fernando Arzola of Cuba in the quarter-finals.

Govind Sahani, who has had an outstanding year so far with a gold at the National Championships and a silver at the 74th Strandja Memorial, continued his rich vein of form as he made light work of Mehron Shafiev of Tajikistan to secure a 5-0 win. Sahani will next face the top-seeded Sakhil Alakhverdovi of Georgia who won bronze at the last World Championships.

Deepak Kumar, who is competing in Amit Panghal’s weight class, progressed to the Round of 32. He ousted Luis Delgado of Ecuador with his supreme technical ability to seal an emphatic victory by a unanimous decision. Kumar will take on the Tokyo Olympics bronze winner and reigning world champion Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan.

Upcoming matches

On Friday, two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Mohammad Hussamuddin, Tokyo Olympian Ashish Chaudhary, and Naveen Kumar will all be in pre-quarterfinals action. Hussamuddin (57kg) will go head-to-head against Lyu Ping of China, while Ashish (80kg) will face a tough challenge against two-time Olympic gold medallist Arlen Lopez of Cuba. Naveen (92kg) will take on Jeong Jae-min of South Korea.

While the defeat of Shiva Thapa was a disappointment, the performances of Berwal, Sahani, and Kumar have given Indian boxing fans cause for optimism in the rest of the tournament.