Shillong: Six-time Asian Championships medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg) and World Championships silver medallist Amit Panghal (51kg) on Tuesday made a winning start to their campaign in the Men’s National Boxing Championships here.
Assam’s Thapa, who was made to work hard for his 4-3 split decision win by Abhinash Jamwal from Himachal Pradesh, will now take on Haryana’s Santosh HK in his round of 16 clash.
Up against Shivaji from Maharashtra, SSCB’s Panghal emerged a one-sided winner through a 5-0 unanimous decision. He will face Jayshandeep Singh from Punjab in the round of 16 match.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Olympian Ashish Kumar (80kg) from Himachal Pradesh defeated Punjab’s Arshdeep Singh and set up a pre-quarterfinals clash against Nitish Kumar from Chandigarh.
Railway Sports Promotion Board’s Govind Sahani (48kg), also an Asian Championships 2022 bronze medal winner, emerged victorious in his contest against Tripura’s Sayan Lodh.
Govind started with an aggressive approach and surprised his opponent who was caught off guard and could never really recover. Govind will now take on Vishal from Himachal Pradesh in pre-quarterfinals.
PTI

Press Trust of India