Six time Asian Championships medalist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg) and 2019 World Championships silver medalist Amit Panghal (51kg) commenced their campaign by chalking out contrasting victories over their rivals at the 7th Elite National Boxing Championships in Shillong.
Assam’s Shiva started off in a dominating fashion against Abhinash Jamwal but as the bout progressed, the boxer from Himachal Pradesh made a remarkable comeback and made his fancied rival work for each point impressing the referees.
The bout was closely contested throughout but the highly experienced Shiva maintained his composure in the crucial moments of the game to get past his opponent in a 4-3 split decision win. He will now face Santhosh HK of Karnataka in the round of 16 clash..
Service’s Amit, who was up against Maharashtra’s Shivaji, was looking as determined as ever. The 28-year-old did not hesitate to throw punches as his opponent looked clueless giving the southpaw ample opportunity to experiment with his moves.
Amit finished the bout with an easy 5-0 unanimous decision win. He will now be up against Punjab’s Jayshandeep Singh in the round of 16 clash.
Olympian Ashish Kumar (80kg) of Himachal Pradesh got the better of his opponent Arshdeep Singh of Punjab. Ashish was at the top of his game and dominated the proceedings to grab the win with a unanimous decision. He will take on Chandigarh’s Nitish Kumar in his next round.
Asian Championship bronze medalist Govind Sahani (48kg) who is playing for Railways proved too good for Sayan Lodh of Tripura. Govind started the proceeding with an aggressive approach surprising his opponent who was caught off guard by his approach.
Within no time Govind wrapped the game with a referee stopping the contest verdict in round one. He will now face Himachal Pradesh’s Vishal in the round of 16 clash.