Shiva Thapa, Deepak Bohria advance in World Boxing Championships

Belgrade: The seasoned Shiva Thapa (63.5kg) entered the second round, while tournament-debutant Deepak Bohria (51kg) advanced to the pre-quarters of the AIBA World Boxing Championships after dominating victories in their respective opening bouts here on Tuesday. Five-time Asian medallist Thapa, competing in his third world championship, produced a fine tactical performance to prevail 5-0 against Kenya’s Victor Nyadera. Asian silver-medallist Bohria was equally dominant against Kyrgyzstan’s Azat Usenaliev, also notching up a 5-0 win to enter the round of 16. Thapa, who won a bronze at the showpiece in 2015, will face Sierra Leone’s John Brown on 30 October in the round of 32. Bohria has a tough one at hand on 1 November as he will be up against Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibossinov, an Olympic and world championships bronze-medallist. Earlier on Monday night, debutant Akash Sangwan (67kg) also sailed into the second round with a comprehensive 5-0 triumph over Turkey’s Furkan Adem. Sangwan, a reigning national champion, will next face Germany’s Deniel Krotter, who got a first-round bye. The Indian dominated Adem in a lop-sided contest held late last night. Another debutant Rohit Mor (57kg) gave India a winning start by out-punching Ecuador’s Jean Caicedo 5-0 in a confident opening-round performance this evening. Next up for him is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Alen Rahimic. Asian champion Sanjeet (92kg) received a first-round bye, along with Sachin Kumar (80kg). While Sachin will face American Robby Gonzalez in the second round on 30 October, Sanjeet will be up against Russian Andre Stotskii in his opening bout on 29 October. With more than 600 boxers from over 100 countries in fray, a lot of competitors will have to win at least three bouts in some categories to get to the quarter-final stage. The gold-winners at the showpiece will walk away with a prize money of $100,000. The silver medallists are to be given $50,000, and both bronze-medallists will be awarded $25,000 each. The total prize purse stands at a whopping $2.6 million.