Shiva Thapa makes winning start, world medallist Gaurav Bidhuri stunned at national boxing championship

Shiva Thapa began his title defence with a dominating victory in the opening bout of the men’s national boxing championship 2021 on Friday.

The two-time Olympian, who represents Assam, sealed the win over Shubham Namata of Steel Plants Sports Board (SPSB) with a knockout (KO) in his first round match of the 63.5kg event on Day 3 of the event.

The 27-year-old Shiva Thapa, a former world bronze winner and a five-time Asian medallist, won the division in the last edition and is the favourite to go all the way this time, too.

Meanwhile, defending featherweight (57kg) champion and 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Mohammad Hussamuddin beat Karan Gupta of Madhya Pradesh by a 5-0 margin.

However, Gaurav Bidhuri, the 2017 world championship bronze medallist was outclassed by Haryana’s Sachin in the first round of the 57kg division.

Sachin defeated Gaurav Bidhuri of Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) by a 4-1 split verdict.

Another boxer from Haryana, Ankit Khatana, a 2019 South Asian Games champion, also advanced to the 75kg quarter-finals after defeating Himachal Pradesh's Dharm Pal by unanimous decision.

The 2019 Khel India Youth Games champion Nikhil Dubey (Maharashtra) also made it to the last eight of the 75kg category on Day 3.

The opening day of the national championship saw Olympians Sumit Sangwan and Dinesh Kumar advancing while Asian silver medallist Deepak Kumar progressed on Day 2. A total of 69 bouts were scheduled on Friday across 13 weight categories.

The winners at the national championships will represent India at next month’s world boxing championships in Serbia and will also train at the national camp.

The men’s national boxing championships, now in its fifth year, has competitions in the 48kg, 51kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, 63.5kg, 67kg, 71kg, 75kg, 80kg, 86kg, 92kg, and +92kg weight categories in accordance with AIBA rules.