Six-time medallist Shiva Thapa was the only Indian male boxer to advance to the finals as four others bowed out with bronze medals at the Asian Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan on Thursday.
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Thapa (63.5 kg) out-punched Bakhodur Usmonov of Tajikistan via a 4-1 split verdict in the semifinal to be assured of at least a silver.
Thapa will face Uzbekistan’s Abdullaev Ruslan in the final.
Both boxers looked to attack while defending cautiously but Thapa, the most successful pugilist in the championship, was able to land his combination punches to take the first round 5-0.
However, Usmonov made a strong comeback in the second round to take it 4-1.
In the third round, Thapa attacked Usmonov relentlessly as the Tajak fell on the canvas within the first few seconds following which the referee gave him the count.
The Indian continued to dominate by landing a flurry of punches while defending with ease to take the tie.
Two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Mohammad Hussamuddin’s (57kg) came to an abrupt end as he couldn’t contest the semifinal due to a cut above his right eye he sustained during his last eight bout earlier this week.
The 28-year-old ended his campaign with a bronze medal as did Thailand Open champions Sumit (75kg) and Govind Kumar Sahani (48kg) and Narender (92+kg).
Govind (48kg) was up against Sanzhar Tashkenbay of Kazakhstan and started off his bout trying to block his opponent’s punches and attack with counterpunches but he could not sustain that strategy for long.
His Kazakh opponent, who is the 2021 Youth World Championship gold medallist, dominated the next two rounds and inflicted a 0:4 defeat on the boxer from Gorakhpur.
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