World Boxing C’ship: Ashish advances to pre-quarters; Harsh makes exit

TASHKENT: Tokyo Olympian Ashish Chaudhary came up with an impressive performance to advance into the 80kg pre-quarterfinals of the IBA Men's World Boxing Championships 2023 after recording an emphatic victory here on Tuesday.

Chaudhary secured a hard-fought 4-1 victory against the 2021 Asian Championships silver medallist Meysam Gheshlaghi of Iran.

The 28-year-old dynamic pugilist from Himachal Pradesh displayed his attacking intent from the word go by landing powerful jabs to keep his opponent at bay in the first round.

The Indian, who has a 2019 Asian Championships silver medal to his name, utilised his smart movement and supreme technical ability to edge past the Iranian pugilist in the next rounds and eventually sealed the win.

Chaudhary will now face a tough challenge from the two-time Olympic champion Arlen Lopez of Cuba in the Round of 16.

Meanwhile, debutant Harsh Choudhary exited the competition after suffering a 0-5 defeat against Billy McAllister of Australia in the 86kg category.

On Wednesday, Nishant Dev (71kg) will take on the 2021 World Championship bronze medallist Sarkhan Alliyev of Azerbaijan in his first match of the tournament which is witnessing the participation of 538 boxers, including several Olympic medallists, from 107 countries.