Shiva Thapa (60kg) inched one step closer to adding a record-breaking fourth medal from the Asian Boxing Championships by entering the pre-quarterfinals as 2018 World Championships bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Makran Cup gold medallist Deepak (49kg) made it to the last-eight of this continental tournament here on Saturday.
Thapa secured a thrilling 4-1 win over Korea’s Kim Wonho and is now a couple of wins away from a medal to add to the gold, bronze and silver that he won in 2013, 2015 and 2017 editions respectively. The Assam pugilist will next take on Kyrgyzstan’s Seitbek Uulu M for a place in the quarter-finals on Sunday.
Lovlina Borgohain, also of Assam, began her medal quest in thunderous fashion by outpunching Vietnam’s Tran Thi Linh 5-0 to advance to the quarter-finals. Up next on Monday for the 2019 Strandja Cup bronze medallist is a stiff challenge in the form of Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien-Chin, the very girl she lost to in the semi-finals of the World Championships in New Delhi last year.