IBA Men’s Boxing C’ships: Sachin Siwach moves into pre-QFs, Naveen, Govind suffer losses

Tashkent [Uzbekistan], May 8 (ANI): Indian pugilist Sachin Siwach (54kg) was at the top of his game on Monday as he defeated Moldova’s Serghei Novac comfortably to reach the pre-quarterfinals of the ongoing IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Sachin dominated the match from the beginning and registered a 5-0 unanimous decision over his opponent. The 2021 World Youth champion started aggressively and never let his guard down in the first round.

He continued with the same strategy in the second round as well. He landed some heavy punches on his opponent with swift movements. Sachin was all over Novach in the third and final round with precise hits and received the decision of all the judges in his favour.

He will now face top seed Kazakhstan’s Makhmud Sabyrkhan in pre-quarters on Tuesday, as per a press release from the Boxing Federation of India (BFI).

Naveen (92kg) went down 0-5 against Enmanuel Reyes of Spain. The Indian boxer found it hard to get into a rhythm in the first round and could not find his feet in the second round as well.

Naveen tried hard to get back into the game in the last round but it was too late and the Indian boxer lost the bout to exit the tournament.

Govind Sahani (48kg) also suffered a 0-5 defeat against top seed Sakhil Alakhverdovi of Georgia. The Indian pugilist couldn’t find his feet and the Georgian boxer was too quick for him. He kept Govind at bay throughout the bout.

Deepak (51kg), Nishant Dev (71kg) and Akash Sangwan (67 kg) will be in action in their respective pre-quarterfinal bouts on Tuesday. Deepak (51kg) will face Jiamao Zhang of China, while Nishant Dev will go up against Nidal Foqahaa of Palestine. Akash Sangwan will play against Kazakhstan’s Dulat Bekbauov.

The ongoing tournament is witnessing the participation of 538 boxers, including several Olympic medallists, from 107 countries. The tournament started on May 1 and will end on May 14.