NEW DELHI: India Shiva Thapa Sunday became the first-ever male boxer in the history of Asian Championships to win six medals after beating Minsu Choi of South Korea to advance to the semifinals in Amman, Jordan.
The veteran Thapa (63.5kg) prevailed 4-1 over Choi in the light welterweight quarterfinals to secure his sixth consecutive medal.
The 28-year-old dominated from start to finish, using his jabs to good effect.
With this victory, Thapa is assured of at least a bronze medal in the current edition, improving his own position as the most successful Indian boxer in the tournament.
His track record includes a gold medal (2013), two silvers (2017 and 2021) and as many bronze medals (2015 and 2019).
He overtook Kazakh legend Vassiliy Levit, an Olympic silver medalist and two-time world bronze medalist, who was the only other male pugilist with five Asian championship medals.
Women’s boxing MC legends Mary Kom (7) and L Sarita Devi (8) have more Asian medals than Thapa, the latter having the distinction of winning six in a row, including five gold, at the height of her prowess.
Two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg) and Govind Kumar Sahani (48kg) also qualified for the semi-finals as India’s medal tally continued to climb.
Facing South Korean Haengseok Lee in the quarter-finals, Hussamuddin (57kg) fell behind early with his rival landing free-kicks in the first round.
With the prospect of an upset imminent, Commonwealth bronze medalist Hussamuddin used his experience to make a comeback. He pulled out all the stops in the next two rounds to dominate his way to a 5-0 win and secure another medal for India.
Hussamuddin will face 2021 World Championships silver medalist Serik Temirzha in his semi-final bout on November 10.
In the other quarter-final, Thailand Open gold medalist Ananta Chopade (54kg) withdrew from competition after suffering a 0-4 loss to Kyrgyzstan’s Seidekmatov Sanzhai.
On Saturday night, Anikushita Boro (56kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) prevailed over Tsubata Arsia of Japan and Valentina Khalzova of Kazakhstan, respectively, to advance to the semi-finals.
Olympic bronze medalist Lovlina, competing for the first time in the 75kg category at an international tournament, had to work hard to earn a 3-2 split decision victory over 2016 world champion Khalzova.
The Assam boxer, who won the bronze medal in 69kg at the Tokyo Olympics, moved up to the 75kg division as her former weight class is not in the Paris Olympics.
However, that was the end of the road for Pooja (70kg), who suffered a 0-5 loss to Kazakhstan’s Dariga Shakimova in her last eight fights.
Earlier on Saturday, debutants Minakshi (52kg) and Preeti (57kg) and world championship bronze medalist Parveen had sealed their place in the semi-finals.
Five Indian male boxers — Narender (+92kg), Naveen Kumar (92kg), Lakshya Chahar (80kg), Sumit (75kg) and Sachin (71kg) — will step into the ring on Monday to contest the quarterfinals of final.
The competition sees the participation of 267 boxers from the 27 top boxing nations.
The veteran Thapa (63.5kg) prevailed 4-1 over Choi in the light welterweight quarterfinals to secure his sixth consecutive medal.
The 28-year-old dominated from start to finish, using his jabs to good effect.
With this victory, Thapa is assured of at least a bronze medal in the current edition, improving his own position as the most successful Indian boxer in the tournament.
His track record includes a gold medal (2013), two silvers (2017 and 2021) and as many bronze medals (2015 and 2019).
He overtook Kazakh legend Vassiliy Levit, an Olympic silver medalist and two-time world bronze medalist, who was the only other male pugilist with five Asian championship medals.
Women’s boxing MC legends Mary Kom (7) and L Sarita Devi (8) have more Asian medals than Thapa, the latter having the distinction of winning six in a row, including five gold, at the height of her prowess.
Two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg) and Govind Kumar Sahani (48kg) also qualified for the semi-finals as India’s medal tally continued to climb.
Facing South Korean Haengseok Lee in the quarter-finals, Hussamuddin (57kg) fell behind early with his rival landing free-kicks in the first round.
With the prospect of an upset imminent, Commonwealth bronze medalist Hussamuddin used his experience to make a comeback. He pulled out all the stops in the next two rounds to dominate his way to a 5-0 win and secure another medal for India.
Hussamuddin will face 2021 World Championships silver medalist Serik Temirzha in his semi-final bout on November 10.
In the other quarter-final, Thailand Open gold medalist Ananta Chopade (54kg) withdrew from competition after suffering a 0-4 loss to Kyrgyzstan’s Seidekmatov Sanzhai.
On Saturday night, Anikushita Boro (56kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) prevailed over Tsubata Arsia of Japan and Valentina Khalzova of Kazakhstan, respectively, to advance to the semi-finals.
Olympic bronze medalist Lovlina, competing for the first time in the 75kg category at an international tournament, had to work hard to earn a 3-2 split decision victory over 2016 world champion Khalzova.
The Assam boxer, who won the bronze medal in 69kg at the Tokyo Olympics, moved up to the 75kg division as her former weight class is not in the Paris Olympics.
However, that was the end of the road for Pooja (70kg), who suffered a 0-5 loss to Kazakhstan’s Dariga Shakimova in her last eight fights.
Earlier on Saturday, debutants Minakshi (52kg) and Preeti (57kg) and world championship bronze medalist Parveen had sealed their place in the semi-finals.
Five Indian male boxers — Narender (+92kg), Naveen Kumar (92kg), Lakshya Chahar (80kg), Sumit (75kg) and Sachin (71kg) — will step into the ring on Monday to contest the quarterfinals of final.
The competition sees the participation of 267 boxers from the 27 top boxing nations.
