Suranjoy Singh gave a resounding start to India's boxing campaign at the Asian Games by entering the flyweight (52kg) pre-quarterfinals with a thumping win over Thailand's Chatchai Butdee in Guangzhou on Tuesday.
Rounding off a second successive all-win day for India, Olympian Jitender Kumar (54kg) and Jai Bhagwan (60kg) advanced to the quarter-finals with contrasting wins at the Asian Boxing Championships in Zhuhai, China, on Monday.
An Olympic quota place pocketed, Indian boxer Shiva Thapa (56kg) ended his campaign with a silver medal after losing in the final of the Asian/Oceania Qualifying Tournament Qian'an, China on Friday. The 22-year-old Assamese, who is a World Championship bronze-medallist, went down 0-3 to Thailand's Chatchai Butdee in the summit clash. Butdee is the reigning Asian champion. Shiva had booked his ticket to Rio de Janeiro by making the finals yesterday after beating Kazakhstan's Kairat Yeraliyev. Meanwhile, it was a heartbreak once again for L Devendro Singh (49kg), who missed a second opportunity to qualify for the Olympics. The Commonwealth silver-medallist, who lost in the semifinals a day prior, went down in the box-off for the Olympic slot on Friday.
World Championships bronze-medallist Shiva Thapa (56kg), on Thursday, became the first Indian boxer to make the cut for this year's Olympics by entering the Asian Qualifying Tournament's final but the celebrated M C Mary Kom (51kg) failed to book her Rio Games ticket after losing in the last-four stage, in Qian'an, China.