Arch-rivals Shiva Thapa and Manish Kaushik to face each other in the semis of the national boxing championship

India’s star boxers; six times Asian championship medallist Shiva Thapa and Tokyo Olympian Manish Kaushik, will face each other in the semifinals of the 63.5kg category of the sixth men’s national boxing championship being held in Hisar, Haryana.

Thapa, who is representing Assam in the national championship, didn't break into sweat to score a 5-0 win against Ashutosh Kumar of Punjab in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

On the other hand, Kaushik, wearing a Services Sports Control Board jersey in the competition, defeated Rohit Ningehougan Singh of Manipur to set face arch-rival Thapa in the semis.

Railways Varinder Singh stayed on course to earn a semi-final berth by defeating 2018 Commonwealth Games champion Gaurav Solanki of Haryana in the 60kg quarterfinals. Singh, the 2021 Asian Championship bronze medallist, dominated the bout and scored 5-0 to end Solanki’s dream of making the semifinal stage of the competition.

Rohit Tokas also displayed his attacking skills to move into the semifinals of the 67kg by scoring a 5-0 win over Nishchaya of the All India Police Sports Control Board.

Tokas, the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, will take on Abhinash Jamwal of Himachal Pradesh in the semifinals to be played on Thursday.

Two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Mohammed Hussamuddin also entered the semis of 57kg with a 5-0 win over Manish Rathod of Uttar Pradesh.

Railways Govind Sahani also entered the semifinals of the 48kg by defeating Vikash Singh of Uttar Pradesh 5-0.

More than 300 boxers from across the country and departmental teams are competing in the national boxing championship.

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) will also select the winner and runner-up in each of the weight categories for the national camp scheduled to commence in January.