Shiva Thapa, Pooja Rani clinch gold at Olympic Test event for boxing

Shiva Thapa (63kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg) clinched gold medals, while Ashish (69kg) settled for a silver, ending India's brilliant campaign at the Olympic Test Event for Boxing here on Thursday. Four-time Asian medallist Thapa outpunched Kazakhstan's national champion and Asian bronze-winner Sanatali Toltayev 5-0 to claim the top honors. Thapa is also the reigning national champion and a former bronze-medallist at the world championships.

Former Asian Games bronze-medallist Rani edged past Australia's Caitlin Parker to ensure that the Indian women's contingent also had a gold in its kitty. Rani had claimed a silver medal at the Asian Championships earlier this year. Ashish (69kg), however, lost to Japan's Sewon Okazawa to sign off with a silver medal.

Earlier, former junior world champion Nikhat Zareen (51kg), Simranjeet Kaur (60kg) along with Asian silver-medallist Sumit Sangwan (91kg) and Vahlimpuia (75kg), in the men's draw, lost their respective semifinal bouts to end with bronze medals on Wednesday.