Three Indian boxers, Deepak Bhoria (51kg), Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg) and Nishant Dev (71kg), performed exceptionally well to win their respective last-eight bouts and enter the semifinals of the World boxing championships in Tashkent on Wednesday.
The trio ensured medals and helped India record its best-ever showing. The previous best tally by the country’s male boxers was two medals, including a silver by Amit Panghal and a bronze by Manish Kaushik, in Yekaterinburg in 2019.
The day began brightly with comeback man Bhoria outsmarting Kyrgyzstan’s Nurzhigit Diushebaev 5-0.
After taking the watchful first round 5-0, Bhoria tackled an attacking Diushebaev tactically. The Indian, who countered beautifully with combinations of three-four punches, connected a solid left to put Diushebaev through counting in the second round. Bhoria inflicted another eight-count on his rival in the third before advancing.
“Boxing from a long range and using the left hook worked. Hope to continue like this,” said Bhoria, who will fight fourth-seeded two-time Worlds bronze medallist Frenchman Billal Bennama.
The experienced Hussamuddin upset fifth-seeded Bulgarian Javier Ibanez Diaz 4-3, via bout review, in a closely-contested fight.
Against a taller opponent landing blows from a long range, the Indian southpaw connected a few headshots to claim the first round 3-2.
Hussamuddim relied on his ring craft to stay marginally ahead in the second period and matched the Bulgarian in the physical third round, which witnessed both going all out, to emerge triumphant.
“My opponent was rough. I moved and hit a lot of side blows to score,” said Hussamuddin, who will meet Cuban Saidel Horta.
Young southpaw Nishant outshone Cuban Terry Jorge Cuellar 5-0.
Nishant raised his game exemplarily to execute his rapid and powerful punches and put Cuellar under pressure in the opening round.
Even as the Cuban showed more aggression, Nishant’s mobility and clean shots helped him. He was up to the task in the exhaustive third period, which witnessed heavy trading of punches.
“I wanted to remain mentally strong. Will take this mindset to the next round,” said Nishant, who will face fourth-seeded Kazakh Aslanbek Shymbergenov.
History for India
India has confirmed three medals at the Men’s Boxing World Championships for the first time in the history of the competition.
Indian Medallists so Far
1: Vijender Singh – Bronze – 2009
2: Vikas Krishan- Bronze- 2011
3: Shiva Thapa- Bronze- 2015
4: Gaurav Bidhuri- Bronze- 2017
5: Manish Kaushik- Bronze- 2019
6: Amit Panghal – Silver- 2019
7: Akash Kumar- Bronze- 2021
8: Deepak Bhoria- Bronze* – 2023
9: Mohammad Hussamuddin – Bronze*-2023
10: Nishant Dev- Bronze*- 2023
*Boxers are still in action at the World Championships and will be playing their semifinal bouts on May 12.
