Nishant one win from securing Paris quota

Busto Arsizio (Italy), March 11

World Championships medallist Nishant Dev moved within touching distance of a Paris Olympics quota after he registered a dominant victory over Christos Karaitis of Greece to enter the 71kg quarterfinals of the first world Olympics boxing qualifier.

The 23-year-old, who won the featherweight bronze at the World Championships last year, continued his rich vein of form as he beat Karaitis by a 5-0 decision.

With the qualifying tournament offering four quota places in the men’s 71kg weight class, Dev needs to win his quarterfinal to seal his passage for the Paris Games and earn the fifth Olympics quota, and first in the men’s category, for India.

However, Dev will have his task cut out as he faces a tough opponent in 2021 World Championships silver medallist Omari Jones of the USA in the last-eight.

The Haryana boxer is the only Indian boxer out of the nine-member contingent who is still in the fray for a quota. The remaining boxers will get a final chance to seal their passage to Paris during the second qualifier, scheduled to be held in Bangkok from May 23 to June 3.

Four Indians — Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) — have so far secured Paris quotas.