Indian boxers Shiva Thapa and Kuldeep Singh advanced to the quarterfinals while Akhil Kumar and Amritpreet Singh were knocked out of their respective categories in the 17th Asian Games at Seonhak Gymnasium here Friday.
Thapa was adjudged the winner against Nadir of Pakistan by technical knockout due to injury in the round of 16 bout in the bantamweight (56kg) section . The 20-year-old took just a minute and five seconds, recording a round one TKO-I win over the Pakistani fighter. He will face Filipino Mario Fernandez in the quarterfinal slated for Tuesday.
In the men's light heavyweight (81kg) category, Kuldeep defeated Thongkrathok Anavat of Thailand by a split decision, winning 2-1 to make it to the quarters. He will next take on Iran's Ehsan Rouzbahani, Monday.
Later in the day, comeback man Akhil lost his lightweight (60kg) round of 16 match, going down 1-2 in a split decision against Charly Suarez of the Philippines' in a tight contest that could have gone either way. Akhil took the lead after winning the first round but Suarez came back strongly to clinch the next two rounds to seal the contest in his favour. The last-eight round of this category will be held Oct 29.
Amrtipreet Singh's, heavy weight (91kg) category, loss by a split decision against South Korea's Namhyeong Park was similar to Akhil's. Amritpreet started the contest positively bagging the first round in a split decision. But then his aggressiveness dipped as Park clawed back in the fight, bagging the bout in a split decision. The quarter-finals of this event will be held Tuesday.