Three Indians bow out of Men's Boxing World Championships Round of 16

Medal hopeful Rohit Mor was the biggest name to crash out of the competition.

Indian boxers Rohit Mor and Akash Sangwan ended their campaigns at the 2021 Men’s Boxing World Championships after suffering defeats in the pre-quarterfinals stage in Belgrade, Serbia on Monday.

Playing in the 67kg category, Akash started the game with aggressive intent against Kevin Brown as both the boxers traded heavy blows. However, the Cuban boxer showed his technical superiority against the Indian, who was making a maiden appearance at the Championships, and secured a win by unanimous decision to set up a quarter-final with Georgian boxer Lasha Guruli.

Meanwhile, in the first match of the day for India at the Men’s Boxing World Championships , it was heartbreak for another debutant Rohit Mor as his impressive run in the tournament ended in the 57kg pre-quarterfinals after he went down fighting against Kazakhstan’s Serik Temirzhanov by 1-4 verdict.  

Sumit (75kg) lost 0-5 to Cuba's Yoenlis Hernandez in the pre quaterfinal at Men's Boxing World Championships at Belgrade, Serbia on Monday.

Earlier during matches played late in the night on Sunday, Sanjeet and Nishant Dev joined Akash Kumar (54kg) and Narender (+92) in the Last-8 stage with come-from behind victories at the Men’s Boxing World Championships .

Having lost the opening round, the boxer from Rohtak, Sanjeet recovered well in time against the Georgian opponent Giorgi Tchigladze not only to win the next round but also the 92kg Last-16 contest 4-1 comfortably in the end.  

Similarly, on the other hand, playing in the 71kg pre-quarterfinals bout, debutant Nishant struggled in the early part of the game. However, the reigning national champion from Karnataka, turned the tables quite handsomely in the later stage of the match with some continuous sharp and precise body blows against the Mexican Alvarez Verde to tilt the result of the closely-fought match 3-2 in his favour at the Men’s Boxing World Championships .

With just a win away from confirming medals for the country, Sanjeet will now take on Italian boxer Aziz Mouhiidine while Nishant will square off against Russia’s Vadim Musaev in their respective quarter-final matches on Tuesday.

While Akash, Narender, Sanjeet and Nishant have already progressed into the quarter-finals stage, three more Indian boxers will play their pre-quarterfinals later tonight.

Deepak will have a strong challenge from the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan in the 51kg Last-16 match. Sumit (75kg) will square off against Cuban opponent Yoenlis Hernandez while the five-time Asian Championships medallist will fight against France’s Lounes Hamraoui in the 63.5 kg category at the Men’s Boxing World Championships .

The Boxing Federation of India had fielded a 13-member contingent at the Men’s Boxing World Championships , with all the current national champions making into the squad, for the world’s one of the biggest boxing events where 650 top boxers have been participating from more than 100 countries from across the world.

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