Asian Games 2023 Boxing: Deepak Bhoria, Nishant Dev move to pre-quarters

World Championship medalists Deepak Bhoria and Nishant Dev recorded clinical wins in their respective bouts of the Asian Games 2023 on Monday.

Two of India's best bet of medal in boxing, Deepak and Nishant made sure they come unscathed in the first round.

However, Arundhati Chaudhary lost to World Champion Yang Liu of China in the opening round of women's 66 kg category. Yang defeated the young Indian 5-0.

In the men's 51 kg category, Deepak Bhoria played an intense bout against the youngster from Malaysia. The Malaysian was a match to the speed of Deepak but the Indian boxer used body shots and his left jabs to wear down him.

After the winning the first two rounds, Deepak conserved his energy in the final round and put on a good defensive display to win the tie with an unanimous decision of 5-0.

He will face 2021 world champion Japan's Tomoya Tsuboi in the next round.

Competing after a gap of four months, Nishant came up against Dipesh Lama of Nepal in men's 71 kg category. It was an easy bout for Nishant who used his long reach to land some decisive blows on his opponent.

Known for his power packed punches, Nishant's assault resulted in referee giving two standing counts to the Nepali boxer. Nishant emerged winner with an unanimous decision of 5-0 and will face Bui PT of Vietnam in next round.

With two days gone, four Indian boxers have moved to the next round including World Champion Nikhat Zareen in the women's 50 kg category and youngster Preeti Pawar in women's 54 kg category.