Olympic Boxing Qualifier: Setback for India as Deepak, Narender go down on opening day (Ld)

Busto Arsizio (Italy), March 3 (IANS) India got off to a disappointing start in its quest for berths in the boxing programme of the upcoming Paris Olympic Games with its first two competitors, Deepak Bhoria and Narender going down in the opening rounds of the 1st World Olympic Boxing Qualifier here on Sunday.

World Championships bronze medallist Deepak Bhoria (51kg) and Asian Games bronze medallist Narender (+92kg) bowed out after losing their respective Round of 64 clashes on day one of the competition.

Deepak Bhoria went down against Nijat Huseynov of Azerbaijan in a closely fought contest while Narender lost 0-5 to Germany’s Nelvie Tiafack in a one-sided encounter.

Deepak was first up for India and put up a strong fight against his opponent. The first two rounds stood even and there was hardly anything to separate the boxers as they had an attacking approach. The young boxer from Azerbaijan took full advantage of his pace and his constant movement made it difficult for Deepak to attack. Deepak lost the first and second rounds with an identical 2-3 scoreline. The Indian pugilist came all guns blazing in the final round making full use of his quick movement to deliver some quality blows and won the round 4-1. But it wasn’t enough as Nijat won the bout 3-2 in a split decision verdict.

Narender went down to Germany’s Tiafack in what was a one-sided affair. The 2022 European Championships gold medallist Tiafack dominated the first round as he pocketed the game with a 4-1 margin. Narender did try to cover the lost ground in the next round but the German boxer edged past his counterpart with a 3-2 win. The third round was all about Narender trying to attack to get the maximum point out of it after losing the first two rounds but with no success as the solid defense from the German made sure he won the round and the bout by a 5-0 decision.

Commonwealth Games 2022 bronze medallist Jaismine (60kg) will be in action later on Sunday night against Japan’s Ayaka Taguchi.

On Monday, national champion Lakshya Chahar (80kg) will start his campaign in the Round of 64 clash against Iran’s Gheshlaghi Meysam. Tuesday will see two Indian pugilists in action for their respective Round of 64 clashes.

Six-time Asian Championships medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg) will go head-to-head against Ruslan Abdullaev of Uzbekistan and World Championships bronze medallist Nishant Dev (71kg) will take on Lewis Richardson of Great Britain.

The youth world champion Ankushita Boro (66kg) will face Sonvico Emilie of France while national champion Sanjeet (92kg) will square off against Aibek Oralbay of Kazakhstan on Wednesday. The 2023 World Championship bronze medallist Mohammed Hussamuddin (57kg) received a bye in his first round and will be in action on Friday in a Round of 32 clash.

The first World Olympic boxing qualification tournament is hosting over 590 boxers and will offer a total of 49 quotas, including 28 for men and 21 for women.

Between 45 and 51 boxers will qualify through the second World Qualification Tournament, to be held in Bangkok from May 23 to June 3, as the countries who have not qualified an athlete for a specific weight category through their continental qualification tournament or the first World Qualification Tournament will be eligible to enter one athlete per weight category.

–IANS

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