Six-time Asian Championships medallist Shiva Thapa and 2019 Asian Championships silver medallist Deepak Bhoria will headline the Indian squad for the upcoming IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships to be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from April 30 to May 14.
The Indian team will leave for Tashkent on April 17 as they will attend a multi-nation training camp before the World Championships. In the seven Olympic weight categories- 51kg, 57kg, 63.5kg, 71kg, 80kg, 92kg and 92+kg, two boxers each will participate in the training camp.
Shiva, who won a World Championships bronze medal in Doha, Qatar in 2015 will be looking to add another medal to his name. He will be representing the country in the 63.5 kg category.
Deepak, who has been one of the most improved and developed boxers in recent times, will be shouldering the country’s hopes in the 51kg Flyweight category.
He announced himself on the global stage in 2021 when he defeated the 2016 Rio Olympic gold medallist and 2019 World Champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan at the Strandja Memorial tournament.
“Men’s team have been working extremely hard and I wish them all the best. I am confident each one of them will make the country proud. I hope our boys will make us proud once again at the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships.” said Ajay Singh, President of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI).
The Championship will also feature seven defending World Champions including Sofiane Oumiha from France, Japan’s Tomoya Tsuboi and Sewonrets Okazawa, Loren Alfonso from Azerbaijan, Saken Bibossinov from Kazakhstan and Cuba’s Yoenlis Hernandez Martinez and Julio La Cruz.
The Tashkent Championships have already seen a registration of around 640 boxers from 104 countries.
The gold medalists will walk away with a prize money of USD 200,000.The silver medallists are to be given USD 100,000, and both bronze-medallists will be awarded USD 50,000 each.
INDIAN SQUAD
Govind Sahani (48kg), Deepak Bhoria (51kg), Sachin Siwach (54kg), Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg), Varinder Singh (60kg), Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), Akash Sangwan (67kg), Nishant Dev (71kg), Sumit Kundu (75kg), Ashish Chaudhary (80kg), Harsh Choudhary (86kg), Naveen Kumar (92kg) and Narender Berwal (92+kg).