NEW Delhi, Nov 6: India’s Shiva Thapa on Sunday became the first-ever male boxer in the history of Asian Championships to win six medals after he out-punched Minsu Choi of South Korea to the progress to the semifinals in Amman, Jordan.
The seasoned Thapa prevailed 4-1 over Choi in the light welterweight quarterfinal to secure his sixth consecutive medal.
With the win, Thapa is assured of at least a bronze medal in the ongoing edition, bettering his own position as the most successful Indian boxer in the tournament.
His haul includes a gold (2013), two silvers (2017 and 2021) and as many bronze medals (2015 and 2019).
He overtook Kazakh legend Vassiliy Levit, an Olympic silver medallist and two-time world bronze medal winner, who was the only other male pugilist with five Asian championship medals.
Women’s boxing legends M.C. Mary Kom (7) and L Sarita Devi (8) have more Asian medals than Thapa, with the latter having the distinction of claiming six successive, five of them gold, at the peak of her prowess.
Two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg) and Govind Kumar Sahani (48kg) also progressed to the semifinals as India’s medal count continued to swell.
Up against South Korea’s Haengseok Lee in the quarterfinal bout, Hussamuddin (57kg)dominate his way to a 5-0 win and guarantee yet another medal for India.
Hussamuddin will face 2021 World Championships silver medallist Serik Temirzha in his semi-finals on November 10. (PTI)
