Indian pugilist Nishant Dev is standing tall at the 1st World Olympic Boxing Qualifier in Italy, where country’s other boxers are struggling at the moment. The youngsters, a 2023 World Championships bronze medalist entered the men’s 71 kg pre-quarters after beating Georgia’s Madiev Eskerkhan by a unanimous 5-0 margin, on Friday.
Eskerkhan, a Tokyo Olympics quarter-finalist, looked clueless for major part of the bout, as the Indian landed solid punches on his opponent. But this performance was in complete contrast with what the other Indians have managed so far at the Olympic Qualifier till now.
The youth world champion Ankushita Boro (66kg) and national champion Sanjeet (92kg) suffered contrasting defeats in the opening rounds. Ankushita lost 2-3 against Sonvico Emilie of France, while Sanjeet lost 0-5 to Aibek Oralbay of Kazakhstan.
This current first World Olympic Boxing Qualification tournament has 49 quotas on offer — 28 for men and 21 for women. Another set of boxers will qualify through the second World Qualification Tournament, to be held in Bangkok from May 23 to June 3.
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So far, four Indians have qualified for Paris 2024. The list includes Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), booking their respective berths at the Asian Games 2023. Till now, none of the male Indian boxers has qualified for the tournament, that is scheduled to take place in July.
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