Shiva assured of 4th medal; Sarita, Nikhat storm into semifinals

Bangkok, April 23

Shiva Thapa (60kg) secured himself an unprecedented fourth successive medal, while L Sarita Devi (60kg) made the semifinals for the first time in nearly a decade to continue India’s stupendous run at the Asian Boxing Championships.

 The 25-year-old Thapa defeated Thailand’s Rujakran Juntrong in a one-sided contest. He prevailed 5-0 and has a tough semifinal lined up against Kazakhstan’s Zakir Safiullin, a silver-medallist from the 2015 edition.

Sarita Devi defeated Kazakhstan’s Rimma Volossenko in a split decision to advance to the semis. Nikhat Zareen (51kg) too booked her maiden semifinal berth at the tournament, beating Kazakhstan’s Nazym Kyzaibay in the quarters. Manisha (54kg) also secured herself at least a bronze by defeating Filipino Petecio Zzaa Nice, while Simranjit Kaur (64kg) edged past a gritty Ha Thi Linh of Vietnam to make the last-4. 

Joining Thapa in the men’s semifinals were Satish Kumar (+91kg), Ashish Kumar (75kg) and Ashish (69kg). Ashish Kumar got the better of Kyrgyzstan’s Omerbek Uulu Behzhigit in a unanimous verdict, while his namesake trounced Vietnam’s Tran Duc Tho 5-0, displaying an impeccable counter-attacking game. Satish out-punched South Korean Kim Dohyeon in an exhausting showdown that left the Indian with a cut above his right eye. 

Tanwar out

However, Naman Tanwar (91kg) bowed out after losing his quarterfinal bout to Jordan’s Hussein Eishaish Iashaish 0-5. In the women’s draw, it was curtains for Nupur (75kg) as she went down to North Korean Pak Un Sim in her quarterfinal bout. — PTI