Nishant Dev became the fourth Indian and first male boxer to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics after beating Moldova's Vasile Cebotari 5-0 at the world boxing qualifiers in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the 71 kg category, while the other two boxers are just one win away from securing their Olympic berths.
Sachin Siwach defeated France's Samuel Kisthalie 4-1 in the 57kg quarter-finals, while 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Amit Panghal beat South Korea's Kim In-kyu 5-0 in the 51kg to reach the quarter-finals and keep his hopes of qualifying alive.
India had already secured three quota places for the Paris Games through the achievement of Nikhat Zareen (women's 50kg), Preeti (54kg) and Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) who won medals at the 2022 Asian Games, and was sending 10 more boxers to Thailand to increase its berth.
Nishant had missed out on qualifying for the Paris Olympics after losing to 2021 World Championship silver medallist Omari Jones of the United States in the first round of qualifying in Italy, but he has become the first athlete to achieve this goal.
The 23-year-old boxer was determined not to be outdone this time, winning the first round with a right jab and left hook combination. Sebotari struggled in the second and third rounds, but Nishant's experience shone through, mixing caution with aggression, landing several hooks and uppercuts to win a unanimous decision.
In the evening session, Panghal fought hard to beat Kim in three rounds while Sachin fought bravely to reach the semi-finals. With only three spots available in the 57kg category, he needs to win one more bout to qualify for Paris.
However, former 60kg World Youth Champion Ankushita Boro's career came to an end when she lost 3-2 to Sweden's Agnes Alexiusson in the quarter-finals, while Arundhati Chaudhary suffered the same fate when she lost 1-4 to Slovakia's Jessica Triberova in the 66kg quarter-finals.
Boro had a slow start and allowed his Swedish opponent to take the initiative, but the Indian fought back in the second round and showed signs of turning the tables by winning the round by a 4-1 decision. In the final round, Boro continued to attack the Swede, but Alexisson landed a few well-timed punches to convince three of the five judges to award him the victory.
Sanjeet also failed to advance to the quarterfinals in the 92kg category as his effort was not enough to beat Loren Berto Alfonso of Azerbaijan.
