Olympian Ashish Chaudhary chalked out a hard fought victory in the 80kg category to move into the pre-quarterfinals ,while his compatriot Harsh lost his 86 kg bout in the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Ashish had to wage a tough battle to secure 4-1 victory against the 2021 Asian Championships silver medallist Meysam Gheshlaghi of Iran.
The 28-year-old pugilist from Himachal Pradesh displayed his attacking intent from the word go by landing powerful jabs to keep his opponent at bay in the first round.
The Indian, who has a 2019 Asian Championships silver medal to his name, utilized his smart movement and supreme technical ability to edge past the Iranian pugilist in the next rounds and eventually sealed the win.
Ashish will now face a tough challenge from the two-time Olympic champion Arlen Lopez of Cuba in the Round of 16.
Meanwhile, debutant Harsh Choudhary exited the competition after suffering a 0-5 defeat against Billy McAllister of Australia in the 86kg category.
Nishant Dev (71kg) will take on the 2021 World Championships bronze medallist Sarkhan Aliyev of Azerbaijan in his first match of the tournament which is witnessing the participation of 538 boxers, including several Olympic medallists, from 107 countries.