Shiva qualifies for Rio Games, heartbreak for Mary Kom
Source: The Sangai Express / PTI
Qian'an, March 31 2016:
World Championships bronze-
medallist Shiva Thapa (56kg)
on Thursday became the first
Indian boxer to make the cut for
this year's Olympics by
entering the Asian Qualifying
Tournament's final but the
celebrated M C Mary Kom
(51kg) failed to book her Rio
Games ticket after losing in the
last-four stage here.
Shiva, given the top seed-
ing in his weight category,
lived upto the billing as he
sailed past 2013 World
Championship bronze-medal-
list Kairat Yeraliyev of
Kazakhstan in the semifinal.
He will face second seed
Chatchai Butdee of Thailand
in the final on Friday.
With today's victory, the
22-year-old Indian is set for
his second Olympic appear-
ance, four years after he
became the youngest boxer to
qualify for the multi-sporting
extravaganza.
"I want to thank god for
having managed to achieve
this.
I was very worked up
about this bout, it was the
most important bout for me.
So I am totally exhausted and
relieved at the same time,"
Shiva told PTI.
"I have very little time at
hand for rest and recovery as
the final bout is tomorrow
itself.
So, it's slowly sinking
in.
I can't thank enough my
coaches and all those who
supported me in this journey.
I hope to come good on ex-
pectations this time by
winning an Olympic medal,"
he said.
However, it was heart-
break for another top seed,
Mary Kom, who went down
to old foe Ren Cancan of
China in the semifinals,
which will only translate into
a bronze medal for her.
In the
women's category, only the
gold and silver medal win-
ners from this tournament will
qualify for Rio Olympics.
The five-time world cham-
pion and London Olympics
bronze-medallist, however,
has another chance of quali-
fying for the Rio Games
during the World Champion-
ships in May.
Another Indian in fray in
the men's draw was Com-
monwealth Games
silver-medallist and fourth
seed L Devendro Singh
(49kg) but he lost to top seed
Rogen Ladon of Philippines
in the semifinals.
Assured of a bronze
medal, Devendro will now
fight it out for an Olympic
quota place by taking on
Mongolia's third-seeded Gan-
Erdene Gankhuyag
tomorrow.
National coach Gurbax
Singh Sandhu was effusive
in his praise for Shiva, while
also lauding the effort of other
boxers.
"It was a very sensible,
very planned, and very ag-
gressive performance.
His
opponent was actually run-
ning around to save himself.
It was a class performance
and one of the best bouts of
the day," Sandhu said.
"Shiva has matured tre-
mendously and this was
evident in his performance so
far," he added.