India’s Olympic boxing aspirations suffered a setback at the World Olympic Boxing Qualifier in Busto Arsizio, Italy, as Deepak Bhoria (51kg) succumbed to a 2-3 split verdict against Azerbaijan’s Huseynov Nijat on the opening day.
Bhoria, who had edged out 2019 World Championships silver medalist Amit Panghal for a spot in the Indian squad, faced a formidable opponent in Nijat. The Azerbaijani boxer’s pace and agility proved too much for Bhoria in the first two rounds, which he lost by identical 2-3 scorelines.
Undeterred, Bhoria rallied in the final round, delivering some impressive blows to secure a 4-1 victory. However, it was not enough to overcome the deficit from the earlier rounds.
Despite Bhoria’s defeat, India still has hopes of securing Olympic quotas through Asian Games bronze medalist Narender (92kg) and Commonwealth Games 2022 bronze medalist Jaismine (60kg), who will face Germany’s Nelvie Tiafack and Japan’s Ayaka Taguchi respectively later on Sunday.
The World Olympic Boxing Qualifier offers 49 quotas for the Paris Olympics, including 28 for men and 21 for women. India has already secured four quotas for the Games.
