Shiva Thapa moves into the national boxing championship final

Six-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg) recorded a resounding 5-0 win over 2019 World Championships bronze medallist Manish Kaushik to advance to the final of the men's national boxing championships on Thursday.

Both pugilists started out aggressively from the start with neither shying away from showcasing their strength and establishing their dominance over the other.

As the bout progressed, Thapa utilised his experience to take charge of the match-up by judging his opponent's attacks smartly to dodge them with his quick feet while landing more accurate punches.

Ultimately, the 2015 World Championship bronze medallist was successful in having the upper hand over Kaushik. He will face 2019 World Youth Championships silver medalist Ankit Narwal in the final.

The 2021 Asian champion Sanjeet (92kg), who is representing SSCB, put up a show of strength as he secured a comfortable victory against Ashish Bhandor of Himachal Pradesh.

Showcasing his power and supreme technical ability, Sanjeet gave his opponent no chance to come back in the bout and sealed his place in the finals after the referee stopped the contest (RSC) in the second round.

Sanjeet's SSCB teammates, Asian Championships bronze medallists Sumit (75kg) and Narender (+92kg) reigned supreme in their semifinal bouts with 5-0 triumphs.

While Sumit defeated Tinderpal Singh of Punjab, Narender won against Jaipal Singh of Punjab and advanced to the finals.

Representing RSPB, Sagar (+92kg) was squaring off against Akash of Delhi. The 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medalist made light work of his opponent and will be up against Narender in the finals.

Meanwhile, Abhinash Jamwal of Himachal Pradesh stunned Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Rohit Tokas of RSPB in the 67 kg semi-finals. The closely contested bout saw both pugilists give it their all but Jamwal's determination helped him edge out his counterpart and secure a 4-3 win after the bout was reviewed. He will face Akash of SSCB in his final.

Two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Mohammad Hussamuddin, who is representing SSCB, blanked Ashish Kumar of Himachal Pradesh to win by unanimous decision. He will take on Sachin of RSPB in the finals of the 57kg category.

The RSPB duo of Govind Sahani (48kg) and Varinder Singh (60kg) secured their berths in the final with identical 5-0 wins over Neeraj Swami of Delhi and Suni Chouhan of Uttar Pradesh respectively.