8 Indian boxers enter GeeBee semis, country assured of 8 medals

As many as eight Indian boxers have entered into the semifinals of the ongoing 38th GeeBee Boxing Tournament 2019, thus assuring India of eight medals in the tournament. Among those who entered the semifinals was Shiva Thapa, the youngest Indian boxer to win an Asian Championship. Thapa secured a commanding 5-0 victory over Poland’s Dominik Palak in the 60kg category.

20-year-old Sachin Siwach, a former youth champion, also made it to the semifinals in the 52kg category. Thapa will take on Russia's Mikhail Varlamov in the semifinals whereas Sachin will face Kyrgyzstan’s Azat Usenaliev.

In addition to Thapa and Sachin, four more players, namely Mohammed Hussamuddin,  Kavinder Singh Bisht, Dinesh Dagar and Naveen Kumar entered the semifinals of the tournament. While Hussamuddin and Bisht advanced in the 56 kg category, Dagar and Kumar secured their semifinal berth in the 69kg and +91kg categories, respectively. Hussamuddin and Bisht showed impeccable form and prevailed over Russia’s Ovik Ogannisian and Almanbet Alibekov, respectively, to register 5-0 wins and enter into the semifinals.

Dagar (69kg) continued his impressive run a day after scoring a huge upset win over former Olympic bronze medallist Evaldas Petrauskas. Naveen Kumar, in the Super Heavyweight category, displayed flawless performance to secure a 5-0 victory over Antti Lehmusvirpi. The tournament, however, came to an end for Prayag Chauhan (75kg) and Sanjay (81kg), who lost to Russia’s Vadim Tukov and Holland’s Peter Mullenberg in their respective quarterfinal bouts.

Besides these six boxers, India is sure of winning two more medals by virtue of 2017 Asian Championships silver medallist Sumit Sangwan (91kg) and Govind Kumar Sahani (49kg) reaching the semifinals due to a smaller field in their respective weight categories. The tournament, which commenced on March 6, is set to conclude on Sunday. 

(With inputs from agencies.)