Deepak, Narender go down on opening day of 1st World Olympic Boxing Qualifier

Deepak Bhoria went down against Huseynov Nijat of Azerbaijan in a closely fought contest. The first two rounds stood even as there was hardly anything to separate both the boxers as they were taking the attacking approach. The young boxer from Azerbaijan took full advantage of his pace as his constant movement made it difficult for Deepak to attack. Deepak lost both the first and second rounds with an identical 2-3 scoreline, as per a Boxing Federation of India (BFI) press release.

The Indian pugilist came all guns blazing in the final round making full use of his quick movement to deliver some quality blows and won the round 4-1 but it wasn't enough as Nijat won the bout 3-2 in a split decision verdict.

Narender was in action against Germany's Nelvie Tiafack in what was a one-sided affair. The 2022 European Championships gold medallist Nelvie dominated the first round as he pocketed the game with a 4-1 margin. Narender did try to cover the lost ground in the next round but the German boxer edged past his counterpart with a 3-2 win.

The third round was all about Narender trying to attack with an aim to get the maximum point out of it after losing the first two rounds but with no success as the solid defence from Nelvie made sure he wins the round and the bout by a 5-0 decision.

Commonwealth Games 2022 bronze medallist Jaismine (60kg) was in action against Japan's Ayaka Taguchi and lost by 0-5.

On late Monday, national champion Lakshya Chahar (80kg) will start his campaign in the round of 64 clash against Iran's Gheshlaghi Meysam.

Tuesday will see two Indian pugilists in action for their respective round of 64 clash. Six-time Asian Championships medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg) will go head to head against Ruslan Abdullaev of Uzbekistan and World Championships bronze medallist Nishant Dev (71kg) will go up against Richardson Lewis of Great Britain.

The youth world champion Ankushita Boro (66kg) will face Sonvico Emilie of France while national champion Sanjeet (92kg) will square off against Aibek Oralbay of Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

2023 World Championship bronze medallist Mohammed Hussamuddin (57kg) received a bye in his first round and will be in action on Friday in the round of 32 clash.

The first World Olympic boxing qualification tournament is hosting over 590 boxers and will offer a total of 49 quotas of the Paris 2024 Olympics, including 28 for men and 21 for women. Between 45 and 51 boxers will qualify through the second World Qualification Tournament, to be held in Bangkok from May 23 to June 3, as the countries who have not qualified an athlete for a specific weight category through their continental qualification tournament or the first World Qualification Tournament will be eligible to enter one athlete per weight category. (ANI)