Indians assured of medals at Olympic Test Event

The Indian boxing contingent at the ongoing Olympic Test Event in Tokyo guaranteed themselves a clutch of medals, with as many as seven pugilists making it to the semifinals on Tuesday. 

Leading the Indian charge was two-time Olympian Shiva Thapa, who moved into the last four of the 63kg category with a convincing 5-0 win over local hope Yuki Hirakawa. He will take on another Japanese — Daisuke Narimatsu — in the semifinal on Wednesday. Narimatsu was handed a bye in the first round of the competition.

While Thapa, the youngest Indian to qualify for the Olympics, had to take the ring to seal his place in the semifinals, the other Indians who will be seen fighting for a place in the finals were either handed a bye or were helped by the relatively smaller size of the draw in their respective weight categories. 

Former world junior champion Nikhat Zareen, national champion Sumit Sangwan (91kg) and 2019 Asian Championships gold medallist Pooja Rani (75kg) are among the Indians who have made it to the semifinals of the Ready Steady Tokyo event.

Zareen (51kg) will take on Japan’s Sana Kawano while Pooja, who’s also a former Asian Games bronze medallist, will face Brazil's Beatriz Soares, with a place in the final up for grabs.

Meanwhile, Sangwan, who returned to the ring after another bout with injury at the recently held National Championships in Himachal Pradesh, will take on Kazakhstan's Aibek Oralbay as he prepares for the Olympic qualifiers scheduled for next year.

Apart from the above-mentioned pugilists, Ashish (69kg), Vanhlimpuia (75kg) and Simranjeet Kaur (60kg) will also take to the ring on Wednesday for their respective semifinals bouts.

Anant Choapde lost his quarterfinal bout in the 52kg category to Japan’s Tosho Kashiwazaki 2-3.