National Boxing: Shiva moves into quarters

HISAR: The record six-time Asian medalist Shiva Thapa and 2022 and Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Rohit Tokas produced sensational performances on the third day and progressed to the quarter-finals of the 6th Elite Men's National Boxing Championships in Hisar on Monday.

Representing Assam, Thapa (63.5kg) was squaring off against Jaswinder Singh of Delhi in his round-of-16 bout. Living up to his name, the 2015 World Championships bronze medalist utilised his experience and supreme technical ability to dominate the entire bout and blanked his opponent to secure the win by unanimous decision. He will face the winner of the bout between Sanu T of Kerala and Ashutosh Kumar of Punjab in his quarter-final bout on Wednesday. Tokas (67kg) who is representing Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) faced Jai Singh of Chhattisgarh and similar to Thapa, put up a stellar performance. Courtesy of his attacking brilliance, Tokas had the upper hand over his opponent and managed to keep him quiet throughout the bout. He sealed a well-deserved 5:0 win and will take to the ring against the winner of the bout between All India Police's Nishchaya and Haryana's Aman Duhan in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

The 2019 Asian Games silver medalist Ashish Kumar (80kg) of Himachal Pradesh also made it past the round of 16 stages as he made lightwork of Rajasthan's Sumit Poonia. Powering his way to a 5:0 win, Ashish will compete in the quarters on Wednesday.

The 2016 World Youth Champion Sachin (57kg) also prevailed in his bout against Neeraj of Haryana. The RSPB pugilist was at his attacking best and overpowered his opponent to win the bout 5:0. He will take on S Sahil of Chattisgarh in his round-of-16 bout on Tuesday.

All India Police's Shivam Tiwari (60kg) registered a thumping 5:0 victory against Telangana's Savio Michael to advance to the round of 16 where he will go head-to-head against Prashant Yadav of Delhi.

While Rushikesh Goud (57kg) of Maharashtra cruised past Sonu of Bihar with a 5:0 win, Pavan Kumar N (51kg) of Karnataka triumphed over Pawan Kumar Arya of Uttarakhand with the same scoreline.

A total of 386 boxers across 13 different weight categories are participating in the championships. (ANI)