Ace pugilist from Assam, Shiva Thapa landed in Guwahati on Sunday following his gold medal winning exploit at the National Boxing Championship.

Thapa landed at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBIA) in Guwahati from Hisar in Haryana where he made Assam proud with his gold winning stand.

The boxer from Assam was taking part in the Elite Men’s National Boxing Championship. In the 63.5 kilograms category finals, he defeated Ankit Narwal to bag the gold medal.

The final was played on Friday, January 6, at Hisar where Shiva Thapa was among one of the favourites in the tournament, alongside Hussamuddin and Narender.

Thapa, who is six-time Asian medal winner, faced off against his opponent Narwal, who was the bronze medalist at the 2021 World Youth Championships. Narwal was comprehensively defeated as the Assam boxer sealed the gold in style.

It may be noted that in the highly anticipated semi-finals clash, the Shiva Thapa had proved his mettle by recording a remarkable win against the 2019 World Championships bronze medalist Manish Kaushik and advanced to the final of the 6th Elite Men's National Boxing Championships in Hisar on Thursday, January 5.

Having clashed against each other on several occasions in the past, Assam's Thapa and Services Sports Control Board's (SSCB) Kaushik have produced some blockbuster contests with this encounter being no different. Both pugilists started out aggressively from the get-go with neither shying away from showcasing their strength and establishing their dominance over the other. As the bout progressed, Thapa utilized his experience to take charge of the matchup by judging his opponent's attacks smartly to dodge them with his quick feet while landing more accurate punches.