Three Indians in the hunt for gold at Asian Boxing Championships

The young Indian troika of L Devendro Singh (49kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Mandeep Jangra (69kg) continued their fine form to enter the finals of the Asian Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan. The three young guns are now assured of at least a silver medal finish from the tournament. [caption id=“attachment_937971” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  India’s Shiva Thapa (L) connects with a right hand against Mexico’s Oscar Valdez Fierro in their Men’s Bantam (56kg) round of 32 bout. Reuters[/caption] The nimble-footed Devendro was at his menacing best against L V Bin from China. The 21-year-old dominated the bout from the very beginning and won comfortably. The World Championship quarter-finalist will now look better the colour of his first medal when he takes on Temertas Zhussupov of Kazakhstan. Shiva, making his second international appearance since the 2012 London Olympics, was up against Malbekov Omurbek from Kyrgyzstan in his semi-final bout. He started slowly but soon nosed ahead with the help of some sharp jabs and swift footwork. In the second and the third round Malbekov fell to the precise counter-attacks of Shiva and lost his rhythm. The Indian went on to make a place in the title round with a victory with a unanimous decision. The 19-year-old will next take on another 19-year-old Obada Alkabeh from the home team today. Jangra too continued his purple patch. The 20-year-old was involved in tough scuffle for a place in the finals against Mongolia’s Asian Games bronze-medallist Jargal Otgonjargal. PTI