Siwach outpunches Mukuka to give India winning start

Bangkok: National champion Sachin Siwach (57kg) produced an attacking display to register a dominant win over Alex Mukuka of New Zealand in the opening round of the 2nd Boxing World Qualifiers for the Paris Olympics here on Friday.

Siwach, a Strandja Memorial gold medallist, kept up the pressure over his opponent throughout the bout, ensuring a unanimous 5-0 verdict from the judges to give the 10-member Indian contingent a winning start.

Sachin made his intentions clear in the very first round as he went on the offensive and took control of the bout with a couple of left-right combinations. If Mukuka was hoping for a breakthrough in the second round, his hopes were quickly dashed as the Indian was relentless in his attacks.

With the first two rounds comfortably in his pocket, Sachin ensured that there was no chance of a fightback from his opponent and wrapped up the proceedings.

India has fielded seven men and three women in the second world qualifiers and all boxers will have to at least make it to the semi-finals to stand a chance to book their berths for the Paris Olympics.

On Saturday, senior nationals bronze medallist Abhimanyu Loura will take on Bulgaria's Kristiyan Nikolov in the opening round of the 80kg category. Amit Panghal (51kg), a 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, and 2022 Asian Games bronze medallist Narendra Berwal (+92kg) have got a bye in the opening round of their respective weight categories.

The performance of Indian boxers at the previous world qualifiers in March was dismal with only 2023 World Championship bronze medallist Nishant Dev moving past the opening round. Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) have so far secured their entry to Paris at the Asian Games.