Boxing World C'ships: Debutant Akash Kumar secures medal

DEBUTANT Akash Kumar on Tuesday (2) secured India’s maiden medal at the ongoing AIBA World Men’s Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, after reaching the semi-finals with a win over Venezuela’s Yoel Finol Rivas, a former Olympic silver-medallist. He had won a bronze at the Rio edition in 2016 but his medal was upgraded to silver after the original second-place finisher failed in a dope test.

The 21-year-old Kumar, who is a reigning national champion, prevailed over his opponent 5-0 in the 54 kilograms (kg) category. He scored on counter-attacks with a non-existent guard and taunted the opponent while staying out of the latter’s range with swift footwork.

Kumar, who is a Services boxer, is a product of the Army Sports Institute in Pune. He lost his mother to a lung ailment in September and competed in the national championships without knowing about the tragedy. His father passed away more than a decade ago after introducing him to boxing.

By securing the world championship medal which comes with a prize money of at least $25,000, Kumar became only the seventh Indian male boxer to achieve the feat. He will next meet Kazakhstan’s Mahmud Sabyrkhan, aged 19 and has been a three-time Asian gold-medallist at the youth level.

India's other hopes were five-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5 kg) who was set to square off against Turkey’s Kerem Oezemen in the quarterfinals. Thapa would be aiming to become the first Indian male boxer to win two medals at the world event, after having won a bronze in the 2015 edition.

Three other Indians were also in the fray. Narender Berwal (+92kg) will face Azerbaijan’s Mahammad Abdullayev while Nishant Dev (71kg) will take on Russia’s Vadim Musaev. Reigning Asian champion Sanjeet (92kg), who was a quarterfinalist in the event's last edition, will face Italian Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine.

India’s previous medal winners at the world championships are Vijender Singh (bronze, 2009), Vikas Krishan (bronze, 2011), Thapa (bronze, 2015), Gaurav Bidhuri (bronze, 2017), Amit Panghal (silver, 2019) and Manish Kaushik (bronze, 2019).