Abhimanyu Loura, who secured bronze at the National Championships, had an electrifying start to the Boxing World Qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics in Bangkok as he clinched a thrilling victory in the first round of the 80kg category against Bulgaria’s Kristiyan Nikolov on Saturday, 25 May.
Initially, Loura faced some challenges as Nikolov, a ten-time Bulgarian National Champion, gained an advantage in the opening round.
However, the 21-year-old Indian swiftly changed tactics, becoming more aggressive in the second round. He won the round convincingly, with four out of five judges ruling in his favour.
The Indian fighter maintained his momentum in the third and final round, delivering a relentless barrage of punches. This effort secured him a 3-0 victory, marking the second win for the Indian team in Bangkok.
Earlier on Friday, Sachin Siwach had kicked off India’s campaign with a triumph in the 57kg category, defeating Alex Mukuka of New Zealand.
India have fielded 10 boxers, seven men and three women, featuring among a total of 579 boxers from 133 countries participating in the Qualifying event which will see a total of 51 Olympic quotas up for grabs.
India have already secured three quotas for the Paris Games with Nikhat Zareen (women’s 50kg), Preeti (54kg) and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) confirming their berths by winning bronze medals at the 2022 Asian Games.
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