Shiva Thapa, Ashish Kumar Enter Quarterfinals of Nationals Championship

Top boxers Shiva Thapa(63Kg) and Ashish Kumar (75Kg) entered the quarter-finals with easy victorieson the fourth day of the 4th Elite Men's National Championships here on Monday.

Shiva, who failed tomake the World Championships team earlier this year, won his bout with aconvincing 5-0 margin over Hitesh Kumar of Daman and Diu. He controlled theproceedings right from the beginning.

Home favorite andThailand Open gold medallist Ashish Kumar (75 kg) too had an easy 5-0 win overRohan Khurpia of Madhya Pradesh.

Vinod took advantage ofhis height and reach to take the experienced boxer off guard though Neeraj didmanage to make a comeback in the second round with a series of hooks andpunches. In the welterweight category, Naveen Boora of Services sprang asurprise as he defeated last year's runner up Dinesh Dagar 5-0 in a one-sidedbout.

Dinesh, who won gold inthe President's Cup, just could not cope with the flurry of hard punches fromthe youngster. Naveen dominated in all the three rounds to get a unanimousdecision and pocket a comfortable win.

Chandigarh's PankajChauhan (75kg) won his bout against Arunachal Pradesh's Jomohtacho 5-0 in adominant fashion and continued his winning streak.

Services boxers had a field day as Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg) started on a slow note against Uttarakhand's Pawan Gurung but eventually found his rhythm to win the bout 4-1.

In the middleweight category, Rohit Tokas from the Railways and Vanhlimpuia of Services had a close bout. Makran Cup Bronze medallist Rohit, who had moved up his weight from 64 kg to 75 kg, took time to adjust against his opponent's strategy before winning the bout in a 4-1 split verdict.