World Boxing C'ships 2021: Akash enters semis, secures first medal for India
Nov 02, 2021
Belgrade [Serbia], November 2 : India's Akash Kumar (54kg) has secured atleast a bronze medal at the ongoing Men's Boxing world championships in Belgrade, Serbia on Tuesday.
Akash stunned Rio Olympic silver medallist Yoel Finol of Venezuela 5-0 in the quarter-final. Akash will next face Makhmud Sabyrkhan of Kazakhstan in the semi-final on Thursday.
With this win, Akash became the 7th Indian male boxer to win a medal at World Championships.
The Indian male Boxers who have won medals at World Championships so far are Vijender Singh - Bronze (Milan,2009), Vikas Krishan - Bronze (Baku, 2011), Shiva Thapa - Bronze (Doha 2015), Gaurav Bidhuri - Bronze (Hamburg, 2017), Amit Panghal - Silver (Yekaterinburg, 2019) and Manish Kaushik - Bronze (Yekaterinburg, 2019).
Earlier on Monday, Shiva Thapa (63.5kg) drew on his vast experience and demonstrated his wide range of skills to reach the quarter-finals.
Thapa, a five-time medallist at the Asian Boxing Championships and bronze medallist at the 2015 World Championships, defeated France's Lounes Hamraoui 4-1 in a highly entertaining bout.