Boxers Deepak Bhoria (51kg), Mohammed Hussamudin (57kg) and Nishant Dev (71kg) scripted history as they ensured India’s best-ever haul of three medals by storming into the semi-finals of the men’s World Championships here yesterday.
The quarterfinal wins mean the three pugilists will take home at least a bronze medal each. India’s previous best show came in 2019 edition when Amit Panghal clinched an unprecedented silver and Manish Kaushik grabbed a bronze medal.
Kicking off the proceeding for India, Deepak defeated Nurzhigit Diushebaev of Kyrgyzstan in the quarters and will now face B. Bennama of France in the semi-finals on Friday.
Two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Hussamundin then won against J. Diaz Ibanez of Bulgaria and will go up against Saidel Horta of Cuba in the semi-finals.
Nishant’s performance was the cherry on the cake as he knocked out Cuba’s Jorge Cuellar and the 22-year-old, who is the reigning national champion, will fight with Asian champion Aslanbek Shymbergenov of Kazakhstan for a place in the final.
India has so far won a total of seven medals in the previous editions — Vijender Singh (bronze, 2009), Vikas Krishan (bronze, 2011), Shiva Thapa (bronze, 2015), Gaurav Bidhuri (bronze, 2017), Panghal (silver, 2019), Kaushik (bronze, 2019) and Akash Kumar (bronze, 2021).
This post was published on May 11, 2023 6:30 pm