Shiva Thapa sails into semifinals of National Boxing Championship

Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) October 28 (ANI): Assam's star boxer Shiva Thapa gave yet another stellar performance to punch his way into the semifinals of the 2nd Elite Men's National Boxing Championship here at the Swarna Bharati Indoor Stadium on Saturday.

Taking on local favourite Durga Rao in the lightweight category, Shiva was at his clinical best as he routed his opponent 5-0. He is now assured of at least a bronze medal if not a third national championship crown.

The feisty 2015 World Championship bronze medalist, who had beaten Durga back in 2011, came into the match well prepared. He was also cautious as he was aware of his opponent's calibre.

"He is someone you would want to avoid in a crucial bout like this," Shiva said, after his win. "I know I have beaten him in the past but he is a very good boxer and I had to come fully prepared and with a set strategy," he added.

"He is hard puncher and does not move around much which makes it difficult to go at him toe to toe. So I had to move and attack him on the counter when he tried coming close to me. It worked for me in the ring today. The verdict may be a unanimous one in my favour, but I must admit it was not an easy win at all," he conceded.

Manoj Kumar of RSPB also progressed into the last-four stage with a sublime 5:0 victory over Pawan of Haryana in the welterweight category.

In another bout, Dheeraj of SSCB downed Rohit Tokas 4:1, while local lad K Kranthi went down 1:4 to K Shyam Sundar of RSPB.

Results - At the time of writing this report:

Light Fly (46-49kg)

Pardeep Sharma (J&K) beat Neeraj Swami (DEL) by 4-1; NT Lalbiakkima(MIZ) beat Harish (HAR) by 5-0; Vipin Kumar (CHD) beat Ujjwal Sharma (JHA) 5-0; K Shyam Kumar (RSPB) beat K Kranthi (AP) 4-1

Fly (52kg)

Laldinmawia (MIZ) beat Bhojraj Singh (UP) 5-0; Chandan Das (ASM) beat Bikash Kharkongor(MEG) by 5-0; Salman Shekh (RSPB) beat Vijay Jora (JHA) 5-0;Vinod Tanwar (HAR) beat Deepak (CHD) 4:1

Bantam (56kg)

Varinder Singh (PUN) beat Shashikant Yadav (MAH) 3-2; Madan Lal (SSCB) beat M Romajit (MAN) 5:0; Sukraj Rai (SKM) beat Taken Eyum (ARU) 5-0; Santosh Harijan (GOA) beat Zonuntluamga (MIZ) 5-0;

Light (60kg)

Buntee Singh (DEL) beat Vanlalhriatkima (MIZ) 5-0; Shiva Thapa (ASM) beat V Durga Rao (AP) 5:0; Palwinder Singh (PUN) beat Sunil Chouhan (UP) 4-1; Manish Kaushik (SSCB) beat Ch Surendra Kumar Singh (MAN) 5-0;

Light Welter (64kg)

Jimil Thomas(KER) beat Anil Kumar (BIH) 5-0; Basant Thapa (MP) beat Nandan (KAR) 5-0; Ankit Khatana (HAR) beat Bittoo Kanwal (UTK) 4-1; Dheeraj (SSCB) beat Rohit Tokas (RSPB) 4-1

Welter (69kg)

Duryodhan Singh (SSCB) beat Shubham Singh (CHD) 5-0; Manish Uikey (MP) beat Tilak Buddha (MEG) 5-0; Manoj Kumar (RSPB) beat Pawan (HAR) 5-0; Shubham (PUN) beat Md.Ismaeel (DEL) 3-2. (ANI)