Press trust of India
Bangkok, August 30: Defending champion Shiva Thapa (56kg) and previous edition’s silver-medallist L Devendro Singh (49kg) notched up contrasting victories as they advanced to the quarterfinals of the Asian Boxing Championships here Sunday.
While Shiva fought through an engrossing contest to beat Jordan’s Mohammad Alwadi 3-0, Devendro out-punched China’s He Junjun by a similar margin in their respective pre-quarterfinal bouts here. But last edition’s silver-medallist Mandeep Jangra (69kg) bowed out after losing 1-2 to Japan’s Yasuhiro Suzuki.
Devendro opened the day for India and hit the attack mode from the very first second, pushing Junjun on to the backfoot with a flurry of jabs. Then Devendro slowed the tempo slightly and waited for his rival to make the first move but Junjun had been left so unnerved by the initial attack that he was hesitant to land the first blow despite having a longer reach.
Devendro capitalised on this and intimidated him further with a couple of powerful left uppercuts besides his regular jabs to eke out a comfortable triumph. Devendro will be fighting Cornelis Kwangu Langu in the quarterfinals September 1.
Next up was Shiva but he had to deal with a more resolute rival in a draining contest. The Indian concentrated on hitting straight and intense to ensure that every punch of his had impact, fetching him the all crucial points. Shiva will now face Kyrgyzstan’s Omurbek Malabekov.