Manoj, Shiva in national quarters

Visakhapatnam: India’s top boxers Manoj Kumar and Shiva Thapa registered comprehensive victories to cruise into the quarter-finals of their respective weight categories at the Elite Mens National Boxing Championship here on Friday.

Shiva, the 2015 World Championship bronze medallist, lived up to his favourite tag in the lightweight category (60 kilogram) as he punched his way into the next round. He easily downed Suraj Singh of Chhattisgarh 5-0 to be one step away from ensuring a bronze medal.

Railways boxer Manoj also maintained his good run in the tournament, producing yet another cracking performance to move into the last eight stage. Taking on Anthony Lalduhawma of Mizoram in the welterweight (69kg) category, Manoj dominated the entire bout to clinch a 5-0 victory.

"He is a good boxer and it was a tough fight. I took some time to understand his style. Once I got the hang of it, I maintained a safe distance as he was relentlessly throwing punches at me," Manoj said after the bout.

The 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, however, ensured that he landed enough punches on Anthony to pick up crucial points. "He was caught a little off-guard in the middle as he couldn't land any punches due to my tactics. He became desperate and let his guard down and I capitalized on that and scored," he explained.

It was curtains for Devendro Singh of Manipur, though, as he had to give a walkover to Vijay Jora of Jharkhand in the flyweight (52kg) category. Devendro was declared medically unfit to compete in Friday's bout due to the cut he received in his last bout. In another bout, local lad Kranti also eased into the quarters as he beat Vir Singh of Himachal Pradesh in the light flyweight (49kg) category with a unanimous 5-0 decision.