Shiva Thapa out of World Championship, three others in next round
Veteran Indian boxer Shiva Thapa crashed out of the World Championship after suffering a shock defeat while three other Indian boxers made it to the pre-quarterfinals. Shiva (63.5 kg) got a bye in the first round but lost 3-0 to Brazil’s Dos Reis Yuri in the second round. Got out after losing 4. Narendra Berwal (plus 92kg), Govind Sahni (48kg) and Deepak Kumar (51kg) advanced to the pre-quarterfinals. Narendra, who reached the quarter-finals in the last World Championship as well, defeated Muhammad Abroridinov of Tajikistan 4-1 in the last 16 match here.
Both the boxers, who will win the bronze medal in the Asian Championship (2022), had a nail-biting fight from the beginning. Narender dodged his opponent’s blows with powerful punches and took the lead in the first round. He continued to dominate in the second and third rounds as well. He will face 2021 World Youth Championships bronze medalist Fernando Arjola of Cuba in the quarterfinals. Earlier, Thailand Open champion Govind (48kg) and 2019 Asian silver medalist Deepak (51kg) began their respective campaigns with similar wins. Govind, who won the silver medal at the 74th Strandja Memorial after winning the national title earlier this year, continued his impressive run of form by thrashing Tajikistan’s Mehron Shafeev 5-0.
He will now face top seed Sahil Alhverdovi of Georgia. Deepak, with his supreme technical ability, did not give any chance to Luis Delgado of Ecuador and won the unanimous decision. He will next face Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist and reigning world champion Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan.
