Defending champion Shiva Thapa (56kg) and previous edition’s <g data-gr-id="16">silver-medallist</g> L Devendro Singh (49kg) notched up contrasting victories as they advanced to the quarterfinals of the Asian Boxing Championships here on Sunday.
While Shiva fought through an engrossing contest to beat Jordan’s Mohammad Alwadi 3-0, Devendro out-punched China’s He Junjun by a similar margin in their respective pre-quarterfinal bouts here.
But last edition’s <g data-gr-id="18">silver-medallist</g> Mandeep Jangra (69kg) bowed out after losing 1-2 to Japan’s Yasuhiro Suzuki. Devendro opened the day for India and the Commonwealth Games <g data-gr-id="19">silver-medallist</g> hit the attack mode from the very first second, pushing Junjun on to the backfoot with a flurry of jabs.
The first round completely belonged to the Indian and that initial domination came in handy in the next two rounds.
Devendro slowed the tempo slightly and waited for his rival to make the first move but Junjun had been left so unnerved by the initial attack that he was hesitant to land the first blow despite having a longer reach. Devendro capitalised on this and intimidated him further with a couple of powerful left uppercuts besides his regular <g data-gr-id="21">jabs</g> to eke out a comfortable triumph.