Deepak Bhoria (51kg) and Nishant Dev (71kg) won their respective last-16 bouts in style to reach the quarterfinals of the World boxing championships in Tashkent on Tuesday.
Bhoria got past Chinese boxer Jiamao Zhang 5-0, while Nishant recorded a victory over Palestinian Nidal Foqahaa by the referee stopping the contest in the opening round.
Altogether three Indians, including Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg), have made it to the last-eight.
Bhoria displayed another strong performance to defeat Zhang. Even as the Chinese made an early impact by showcasing his combinations, Bhoria held his own by landing some clean punches from a long range and winning the first round 3-2.
Improved footwork
Bhoria improved his footwork in the second period and executed his quick and clean counter-attacking combinations to keep the relentless Zhang in check.
The Indian’s straight punches and well-directed hooks, including his superb left, won him the final round as well as the contest against the never-say-die Chinese.
Bhoria will take on Kyrgyzstan’s Nurzhigit Diushebaev in the last-eight.
Nishant outpunched Foqahaa in spectacular fashion in less than a minute.
Powerful hands
As both boxers got engaged in a rapid exchange of blows in order to gain ground, Nishant’s fast and powerful hands inflicted two eight counts on Nidal. A solid blow from Nishant knocked the Palestinian down before the latter was served a second count. It prompted the referee to end the duel.
Nishant will face Cuban Terry Jeorge Cuellar in the quarterfinals.
Sachin Siwach (Junior), a 2021 World youth champion, put up a great fight before losing to top-seeded Worlds silver medallist Makhmud Sabyrkhan of Kazakhstan 0-5 in a 54kg pre-quarterifnal clash.
Akash Sangwan (67kg) also performed exceptionally well before getting beaten 0-5 by fifth-seeded Kazakh Dulat Bekbauov.
