Dubai: Indian boxers Shiva Thapa (64kg) and Mohammad Hussamuddin (56kg) started their 2021 Asian Boxing Championships on a winning note while Sumit Sangwan (81kg) made an early exit, here.
Commonwealth Games bronze-winner Hussamuddin registered a 5-0 victory against Kazakhstan’s Makhmud Sabyrkhan on Monday to progress into the quarter-finals of the Championship which is jointly hosted by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and UAE Boxing Federation.
Hussamuddin will have a strong challenge in the last-8 match from the top-seed and reigning world champion Mirazizbek Mirzahalilov of Uzbekistan on Tuesday.
The 2013 Asian champion Thapa also made into the quarter-finals after he pulled off a fine show and outpunched Kyrgyzstan’s Dmitrii Puchinn 5-0 in the 64kg opening round bout. Shiva will face Nader Odah of Kuwait in the quarter-finals on Day 2.
However, another Indian boxer Sumit Sangwan lost 5-0 in an intense fight against Iran’s Meysam Gheshlaghi in his opening round match.
Alongside Hussamuddin and Thapa, the World Championships bronze medallist Simranjit Kaur and three other Indian pugilists will also look to confirm medals for the country as they will fight in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
