Shiva assured of 4th straight medal; Sarita also enters Asian semis

Shiva Thapa (60kg) secured himself a medal for the fourth successive time, while veteran L Sarita Devi (60kg) made the semifinals for the first time in nearly a decade to continue India's stupendous run at the Asian Boxing Championships here on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old Thapa defeated Thailand's Rujakran Juntrong in a one-sided lightweight (60kg) contest. He prevailed 5-0 and has a tough semifinal lined up against Kazakhstan's Zakir Safiullin, a silver-medallist from the 2015 edition.

Thapa had won a gold in 2013, a bronze in 2015 and a silver in the 2017 edition of the marquee continental event.

In the women's draw, former world champion Sarita, who last reached the Asian semis back in 2010 and ended with a a gold, defeated Kazakhstan's Rimma Volossenko in a split decision to make the medal rounds.

Last edition's silver-medallist Manisha too secured herself at least a bronze by defeating Filipino Petecio Zzaa Nice.

Joining Thapa in the men's last four stage was Ashish Kumar (75kg), who got the better of Kyrgyzstan's Omerbek Uulu Behzhigit, also a unanimous verdict.

Thapa, who is also a former world championship bronze-medallist and a two-time national champion, opened the proceedings for India and got busy immediately.

The Indian had a spring in his step as he went about dismantling his clueless opponent.

The technically superior Thapa also seemed to have added some more power to his punches and an aggressive streak which his rival found tough to deal with.

Ashish, on the other hand, was locked in a messy contest with Bekzhigit but was clearly the more accurate of the two boxers, finding favour with all the five judges.

Sarita also endured a draining contest against Volossenko but the veteran from Manipur raised the bar when it mattered to move ahead.

The performance in the championship is a turnaround of sorts for the 37-year-old, who ended without a medal at the world championships in Delhi last year.

However, Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Naman Tanwar (91kg) bowed out after losing his quarterfinal bout to Jordan's Hussein Eishaish Iashaish 0-5.