Shiva bags silver at Olympic boxing qualifiers

Qian'an (Chi), April 1: Indian boxer Shiva Thapa signed off with the silver medal in the men's Bantamweight (56kg) division at the Asia/Oceania qualifying tourment here on Friday. Thapa, who had qualified for the this year's Olympics by reaching the fil, was no match for Chatchai Butdee of Thailand, going down 0-3.

There was more disappointment in store for Indian fans as Laishram Devendro Singh also missed out on an Olympic berth in the men's Light Flyweight (49kg) weight class.

Devendro had lost in the semi-fils on Thursday, but got another shot at the Olympic slot when he faced Gan-Erdene Gankhuyag of Mongolia in the play-off for the bronze medal. But the Commonwealth silver medallist went down 1-2 to his Mongolian opponent. The Manipur pugilist lost the opening round by unimous decision and the second period on a split decision before winning the fil round. IANS

Sarbanda congratulates Shiva: BJP Assam Pradesh President and Union Minister  Sarbanda Sonowal has offered his heartiest congratulations to boxer Shiva Thapa for qualifying for the upcoming Rio Olympics 2016 and has called him as a pride for the people of Assam. Sarbanda has wished him the best of luck for the upcoming events.