Boxers keep up good show

Belgrade, October 27

Nishant Dev (71kg) sailed into the second round while Govind Sahani (48kg) made the pre-quarters with a superb come-from-behind effort in his opening bout as Indian boxers continued to impress in the AIBA men’s Boxing World Championships here today.

While Dev notched up a dominating 5-0 triumph over Hungary’s Laszlo Kozak, Sahani rallied from one round down to beat Ecuador’s Billy Arias Ortiz 3-2 in an edge of seat showdown.

Dev will next fight Mauritian Merven Clair, who got a bye in the first round.

Sahani (48kg) will be up against Georgian Sakhil Alakhverdovi in the round of 16.Dev’s win was a perfect start to the day for the country after Sumit (75kg) and Narender Berwal (+92kg) advanced to the second round with fine victories late last night.

Sumit defeated Jamaican Damon O’Neill 5-0, while Narender faced some stiff challenge from Poland’s Oskar Safaryan before recording a 4-1 win.

However, in the first heartbreak for India, another debutant Lakshya Chahar (86kg) lost to South Korea’s Kim Hyeongkyu, a former Asian Games silvermedallist, after the bout had to be stopped in the second round. Earlier, Dev’s win was a perfect start to the day for the country after Sumit (75kg) and Narender Berwal (+92kg) advanced to the second round of their respective categories with fine victories late Tuesday night. — PTI