Shiva Thapa signs off with silver at Asian Qualifiers

An Olympic quota place pocketed, Indian boxer Shiva Thapa (56kg) ended his campaign with a silver medal after losing in the final of the Asian/Oceania Qualifying Tournament here on Friday .

The 22-year-old Assamese, who is a World Championship bronze-medallist, went down 0-3 to Thailand’s Chatchai Butdee in the summit clash. Butdee is the reigning Asian champion.

Shiva had booked his ticket to Rio de Janeiro by making the finals on Thursday after beating Kazakhstan’s Kairat Yeraliyev. Meanwhile, it was a heartbreak once again for L Devendro Singh (49kg), who missed a second opportunity to qualify for the Olympics.

The Commonwealth silver-medallist, who lost in the semifinals on Thursday, on Fridaywent down in the box-off for the Olympic slot. Devendro fought his heart out in a keenly-contested bout against Mongolia’s Gan-Erdene Gankhuyag but lost 2-1. The Indian lost the opening round unanimously and the second round on a split decision before winning the final in three minutes. However, that was not enough to make up for the deficit he conceded earlier in the bout. 

On Saturday, star woman boxer M C Mary Kom (51kg) will take on Chinese Taipei’s Yu-Ting Lin in the box-off to decide the new rankings and seedings for next month’s World Championships in Kazakhstan. Mary Kom had missed out on an Olympic quota place after losing the semifinals of the ongoing event on Thursday. 

In the women’s draw, this tournament offered Olympic berths for only the gold and silver-medallists.