World championships bronze medallist Nishant Dev (71kg) recorded a 3-1 win over Commonwealth Games middleweight bronze medallist Lewis Richardson of Great Britain in a round-of-64 bout in the first World Olympic boxing qualifier late on Tuesday.
Nishant was the first Indian boxer to post a victory in the event. Attacking from a long range, Nishant led 4-1 in the first round and 5-0 in the second. The 23-year-old handled his rival’s aggression well to take the third round 3-2. However, a warning point deducted from Nishant’s account due to excessive ducking impacted his overall score.
Nishant will fight Olympian Eskerkhan Madiev, a Russian-born Georgian boxer, on Thursday.
Six-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg) lost to World champion Ruslan Abdullaev. With the Uzbek inflicting severe punishment on the Indian, the referee stopped the contest in the first round.
On Wednesday, former World youth champion Ankushita Boro (66kg) went down 3-2 to Frenchwoman Emilie Sonvico in the round-of-64. With Ankushita’s exit, six Indians, including both the women in the squad, are out of the contention for Olympic quota places in the event.
