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Shiva settles for bronze

By The Assam Tribune

DOHA, Oct 12: Asian bronze-medallist Shiva Thapa fought his heart out but still fell short in an draining contest to settle for a bronze medal at the World Boxing Championships here last night even though he remained in contention for an Olympic berth through the mega-event.

Shiva (56kg) lost 1-2 to Uzbekistan�s Asian silver-medallist Murodjon Akhmadaliev in a closely-contested bout.

However, he is still in the running for an Olympic spot as the losing semifinalists will be fighting a box-off on October 15 to decide the last of the three slots in this category.

�It�s a part of the game, I gave it my all but it was not my day. I still have a good chance of making the Olympics so I am looking forward to that,� a disappointed Shiva told PTI.

The 20-year-old Assam lad will face Dzmitry Asanau in the all-important contest after the Belarussian went down to third-seeded Irish Michael Conlan in his semifinal bout.

The two rivals, well aware of each other�s style due to the past face-off, were guarded to begin with. In the opening round, it was Shiva who mounted attacks with his trademark left hook connecting well. But the judges ruled in the Uzbek�s favour, giving him the early edge.

In the second round, Akhmadaliev was a tad more attacking than the Indian and the strategy worked well for him as some of his jabs struck cleanly to get him the judges� unanimous nod once again.

Shiva went all out in the final three minutes and perhaps eyeing a knockout, landed some telling left hooks.

The aggression won him the round but the overall battle went in Akhmadaliev�s favour.

�It was anybody�s bout till the last second and it�s disappointing that we could not get it. But Shiva was fantastic and I am proud of his performance,� national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu said. � PTI

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