HISAR: Six-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa and 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Rohit Tokas produced sensational performances to enter the quarter-finals of the sixth men's National Boxing Championships on Monday.
Representing Assam, Thapa (63.5kg) squared off against Jaswinder Singh of Delhi in his round-of-16 bout. Living up to his name, the 2015 World Championships bronze medallist 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 on Wednesday.
Tokas (67kg), representing Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), faced Jai Singh of Chhattisgarh and, like Thapa, put up a stellar performance.
Tokas had the upper hand and managed to keep his opponent quiet throughout the bout. He sealed a well-deserved 5-0 win and will take on the winner of the bout between All India Police's Nishchaya and Haryana's Aman Duhan.
The 2019 Asian Games silver medallist Ashish Kumar (80kg) of Himachal Pradesh also made it past the round-of-16 stage as he made light work 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 Chhattisgarh 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.
