Shiva makes exit from World Boxing C’ships; Narender into quarters

TASHKENT: Ace India boxer Shiva Thapa made a shock exit from the Men’s World Championships even as two other pugilists advanced to the pre-quarterfinals here on Thursday. Narender Berwal progressed to the quarter-finals after winning a closely-contested bout while Govind Sahani and Deepak Kumar entered the pre-quarterfinals. Shiva (63.5kg), the 2015 bronze medallist who received a bye in the first round, went down fighting 3-4 to Dos Reis Yuri of Brazil, with the final decision announced after a bout review. Shiva, who was seeded second, did well to recover from his sluggish start that cost him the first round 1-4. He was proactive in the second and third rounds, landing lusty blows. Shiva looked on course for a win, but faltered in the final two minutes. With a quarter-final finish at the previous World Championships under his belt, Narender (+92kg) began his quest for a medal by defeating Muhammad Abroridinov of Tajikistan 4-1. Both pugilists, who won bronze medals at the 2022 Asian Championships, went all out from the start in the neck-and-neck bout. Narender landed powerful punches and dodged his opponent’s attacks from close range to have the upper hand in the first round. The Indian continued to attack in the next two rounds and won the bout. He will face the 2021 World Youth Championships bronze medallist Fernando Arzola of Cuba in the quarter-finals. Govind (48kg) and 2019 Asian silver medallist Deepak (51kg) kicked off their respective campaigns with comfortable victories. Govind, who has had an outstanding year so far, continued his rich vein of form as he made light work of Mehron Shafiev from Tajikistan to notch up a 5-0 win. Deepak was also at his attacking best, ousting Luis Delgado of Ecuador with his supreme technical ability and sealing an emphatic victory by unanimous decision. Govind will next face the top-seeded Sakhil Alakhverdovi of Georgia while Deepak will take on the Tokyo Olympics bronze winner and reigning world champion Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan.