Mumbai: Two-time Commonwealth Games medallists Mohammad Hussamuddin and World and Asian Championships medal-winner Shiva Thapa will lead the Indian challenge in the Men’s World Boxing Championships scheduled to be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from April 30- May 14.
The draw ceremony will take place on Sunday and the bouts will start from May 1. Hussamuddin and Shiva Thapa will lead the 13-member Indian team in the Men’s World Boxing Championships.
The 29-year-old Hussamuddin, the youngest of six brothers, four of whom are boxers, won bronze medals in the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games. In Tashkent, he will be competing in the men’s 57 kg category and will be a medal contender.
Shiva Thapa, who won bronze in the 2015 World Championship in Doha, is the most successful boxer in the Asian Championships with one gold, three silver and two bronze medals in his kitty. In Tashkent, Shiva will be hoping to emulate his gold in the 2013 Asian Championships in Amman, in the 63.5 kg category.
Govind Sahani, silver medallist in the 74th Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament in Bulgaria and a gold medallist in the 2022 Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament, will be India’s competitor in the men’s 48kg in the event being organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA).
Sahani will be playing in his second World Championships in the upcoming tournament and will be looking to be among the medal winners.
The 2021 World Youth Championship gold medallist Sachin Siwach will be competing in the 54kg weight category having come back strongly and won gold in the Nationals after missing the Asian Championship in Jordan in October 2022 following surgery for appendicitis days before the championships.
He recently won a bronze medal in the Strandja Memorial in Bulgaria this year which will certainly boost his confidence going into his debut Elite Men’s World Boxing Championships.
The other members of the Indian contingent in Tashkent are Varinder Singh (60kg), Akash Sangwan (67kg), Nishant Dev (71kg), Sumit Kundu (75kg), Ashish Chaudhary (80kg), Harsh Choudhary (86kg), Naveen Kumar (92kg) and Narender Berwal (92kg+).
(IANS)
