Continental champion Shiva Thapa (56kg) was barely tested as he advanced to the quarterfinals but it was curtains for comeback-man Akhil Kumar (60kg) after he lost an edge-of-the-seat last-16 bout on a bitter-sweet day for Indian boxing in the 17th Asian Games here today.
Also advancing to the quarterfinals was multiple-times national champion Kuldeep Singh (81kg) at the Seonhak Gymnasium.
Shiva, who got a walkover in the first round, was the first to take the ring for India today and he was in there for just about a minute and 25 seconds against Pakistan's Nadir.
The Assamese boxer managed to open a cut above the right eye of Nadir. The referee awarded the bout to Shiva the moment Nadir started bleeding, declaring it a Technical Knockout (Injury).
Next man in for India was Kuldeep against Thailand's Thongkrathok Anavat and he clinched the bout 2-1 on points. The Indian boxer had the height advantage and was distinctly more agile.
In fact, Anavat was left quite unsettled by Kuldeep's combination of uppercuts and hooks which had the Thai ducking for cover.
With a 2-0 lead in hand, the Indian played it safe in the final three minutes even as Anavat went all out. The late aggression was enough to get him the final round but was not enough to stop the Indian from advancing to the next round.
The evening session, however, turned out to be a disappointing one for India.
Akhil, on a comeback trail after three years of injury-forced hibernation, was impressive to start with against Filipino Charly Suarez but eventually fell short in a throughly entertaining bout.
