Veteran boxer Shiva Thapa returns alongwith Amit Panghal as they book their places for the Commonwealth Games

Indian veteran pugilist and five time Asian Champion Shiva Thapa and Tokyo Olympic qualifier Amit Panghal have booked their tickets to the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. The duo along with six other Indian boxers have cleared this stage and will feature in Birmingham, England.

The boxers, who earned their tickets to the Commonwealth Games, went through the trials where they defeated their opponents and went through several adversities and not only that they even won the finals of the trials and hence were selected.The trials were held at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, in Patiala.

Shiva Thapa had a tough task at hand as he faced 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medal and Tokyo Olympian Manish Kaushik. But the experienced Thapa simply dominated Kaushik to win unanimously with a scoreline of 5-0 as he secured his ticket to Birmingham in the 63.5 category.

On the other hand, Amit Panghal won the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships. The boxer, who went to Tokyo last year, defeated Services’ Deepak with a 4-1 scoreline.The win saw him secure a spot in the Commonwealth Games event in the 51kg  category.

Other six Indian boxers who also claimed victories on the final day of the trials to secure their places in the Indian contingent for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games were: 2018 bronze medallist Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg), Rohit Tokas (67kg), reigning national champion Sumit (75kg), Ashish Kumar (80kg), Sanjeet (92kg) and Sagar (+92kg).

It was a three day event as boxers from all corners of the country fought and progressed past each other to earn the ticket to Birmingham where the Commonwealth Games will be held from July 28 to August 8.

In the 57kg category, Husamuddin has impressed everyone with some bouts here and there showing tremendous tenacity. He showed great movement and was very technically sound in his bout against 2019 Asian Championship silver medallist Kavinder Singh Bisht. Husamuddin won the match by a margin of 4-1 and has now earned a ticket to the Commonwealth Games.

In the Welterweight category, it was Rohit who got the upper hand on Uttar Pradesh’s Aditya Pratap Yadav. Rohit kept pushing and landed some great punches and realises that he will get the win through attacking. He finally wins 3-2 to earn the ticket to Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

The women’s trials for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games will be held next week at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi.