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Thapa was too good for Nadir
The Indian boxers continued their impressive run in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games with Shiva Thapa and Kuldeep Singh storming into the quarterfinals of their respective weight categories at the Seonhak Gymnasium on Friday. Shiva Thapa was at his ferocious best as he made mincemeat of Pakistan’s Nadir in a ridiculously one-sided bantamweight (56-kg) bout.
The Indian pugilist unleashed a barrage of punches on his Pakistani opponent, with the latter sustaining an injury as Shiva won through the technical knockout injury (TKI) route – the bout lasted only one minute five seconds before the referee brought the bout to a close. Shiva, who was youngest Indian to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics and had a disappointing first-round exit in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, will have a two-day break and will play his quarterfinal bout on Monday.
Kuldeep cruises into the next round
Another Indian Kuldeep Singh outboxed Thailand’s Anavat Thongkrathok in the light heavyweight (81-kg) bout to move one step closer to making a podium finish. He next plays Iran’s Ehsan Rouzbahani in the quarterfinals and like Shiva has a two-day break as his bout is also on Monday. Two other Indians – Laishram Devendro Singh and Akhil Kumar are already through to the second round, while Manoj Kumar bowed out in the opening round.
Indian boxers will be looking to put on a stellar performance after capping a splendid effort at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, where they won five medals including four silver medals and a bronze – they created history as for the first time four Indians reached the final of the Commonwealth Games. India in all, have fielded ten boxers. 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medallist Mandeep Jangra will play in the welterweight category (69-kg), while Gautam Bhiduri will feature in the flyweight category (52-kg). 2010 Asiad gold medallist Vikas Krishnan will play in the middleweight category (75-kg), while Amritpreet Singh and Satish Kumar will fight in the heavyweight (91-kg), and super heavyweight categories (+91-kg).
