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2023 World Championships bronze medallist Nishant Dev registered a convincing 5-0 win over Christos Karaitis of Greece to enter the men's 71kg quarter-finals at the 1st World Olympic Boxing Qualifier in Busto Arsizio, Italy.
Nishant is now just a win away from confirming his place at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic Games with the ongoing qualifying tournament offering quotas for all four semi-finalists in the men's event. Continuing his dominating form, Nishant began the bout cautiously as Karaitis looked to secure some early points but not for long as the Indian found his rhythm and delivered some good combinations to secure points by using his speed to his advantage. Nishant looked super effective on the counterattacks and picked up the pace in the closing seconds of the first round to win it comfortably. The southpaw looked lethal right from the start of the next round. He used multiple combinations to surprise the opponent as the Greek pugilist looked clueless and even got a standing count after a left hook pierced his defence while Nishant continued to be a dominant force. Nishant used his jabs effectively as the bout continued to be a one-sided affair in the final three minutes as well before the Haryana-born boxer completed a comfortable victory. The 23-year-old Nishant will be up against 2021 World Championships silver medallist Omari Jones of the USA in the quarter-finals later tonight. India has already secured four quotas for Paris Olympics Game 2024 with Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) confirming their berths with impressive performances at the Asian Games. (ANI)
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