Sports

Deepak, Hussamuddin and Nishant eyes on the final of Boxing World Championship

The trio of Deepak Bhoria (51kg), Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg) and Nishant Dev (71kg) will look to better India’s best when they enter the ring in the semi-finals of the Boxing World Championships here on Friday. All these three boxers have already assured themselves of bronze medals by reaching the semi-finals. This is India’s best performance in terms of number of medals. The good news for Indian boxers is that all three medals are assured in the Olympic category. The Asian Games are to be held in September-October, which will be the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Amit Panghal (silver) became the first Indian male boxer to reach the final in 2019 and now Deepak, Hussamuddin and Nishant have the challenge of equaling and bettering Panghal. It won’t be that easy though as all three will face a tough challenge to make it to the finale. Deepak will face challenge from two-time World Championship medalist Bilal Benama. France are the reigning European champions and will be eager to change the color of their two bronze medals. Hussamuddin will take on Cuba’s Sidel Horta. Horta defeated top seed Serik Temirzhanov, the World and Asian Championship silver medalist, in the quarterfinals.

Nishant will take on Asian champion Aslanbek Shimbergenov of Kazakhstan for a place in the final. It is a great opportunity for Deepak to repeat or better the silver medal winning feat of former world number one Panghal. Panghal has been the first choice in this weight category for a long time. Deepak’s first major medal came at the 2019 Asian Championships. He won the silver medal there. He was the runner-up in the prestigious Strandja Memorial tournament in 2021. The 25-year-old boxer, who won the 2021 and 2023 national titles, was selected in place of Panghal for this tournament based on the new selection criteria.

Deepak has justified the belief of High Performance Director Bernard Dunn and coach Dmitri Dmitruk with his performances so far. Deepak’s left hand punch has been very effective. He had caused a major upset by defeating Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Saken Bibossinov. On the other hand, Hussamuddin from Nizamabad had to wait a long time to compete in the World Championships. However, taking advantage of his experience, he made this wait worthwhile. The 29-year-old managed to win a medal in his debut campaign. Two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Hussamuddin is one of the most experienced boxers in the team.

Nishant came into the limelight by reaching the quarterfinals of the 2021 World Championships in his first attempt. He had missed out on a medal then by a narrow margin, but made up for it this time. Before this season, India has won one silver (in Panghal 2019) and six bronze. Bronze medal winners include Vijender Singh (2009), Vikas Krishan (2011), Shiv Thapa (2015), Gaurav Bidhuri (2017), Manish Kaushik (2019) and Akash Kumar (2021).

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