Debutants bring some cheer

Hamburg, August 2 9
Kavinder Bisht (52kg) and Gaurav Bidhuri (56kg) entered the quarterfinals with upset wins but Shiva Thapa’s quest for a second World Championships medal ended without throwing a single punch as he was forced to withdraw due to food poisoning and fever here today. While Bisht notched up a remarkable 3-2 victory over Algeria’s two-time World Championships medallist Mohamed Flissi, Bidhuri stunned Ukraine’s Mykola Butsenko. Both Bisht and Bidhuri are debutants at the mega event.
Thapa, seeded fifth in the 60kg category, was to take on Georgia’s Otar Eranosyan in his second-round bout after getting a first-round bye. However, weakened by food poisoning and high fever, he was forced to give a walkover to his opponent.
“He had been vomiting the whole night, besides running a high fever. He couldn’t have fought, his body was not holding up. We tried everything but he was very weak,” said an official accompanying the team. Thapa had won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships in Doha.
Seasoned campaigner Manoj Kumar (69kg) also made an exit from the tournament. The former Commonwealth Games gold medallist went down in a split verdict to fourth-seeded Gabriel Maestre Perez of Venezuela. Perez had won a bronze in the 2013 World Championships; he is also a Pan-American Games gold medallist. The 31-year-old Kumar gave it his all and matched his higher-ranked rival quite well but could not get the judges’ nod.
Bidhuri shines
However, Bidhuri ensured India had something to celebrate. He got the better of Butsenko in an exhausting pre-quarterfinal bout late last night. The Delhi boxer, who got into the event on a wildcard after missing out on an automatic qualification, matched Butsenko punch for punch in a thoroughly engrossing contest. The two boxers attacked each other relentlessly but the judges ruled in favour of the Indian in a split verdict.
However, third seed and 2011 World Championships bronze medallist Vikas Krishan (75kg) lost his second-round bout to England’s Benjamin Whittaker. Krishan, the two-time Asian Games medallist, looked sluggish against his 19-year-old rival. Whittaker’s strong legs helped him glide smoothly even as Krishan struggled to keep his balance as the bout progressed.
The Haryana boxer looked alright in the first two rounds but Whittaker out-punched him comprehensively in the final three minutes to clinch a unanimous verdict in his favour.
Also making an early exit was Asian silver medallist Sumit Sangwan (91kg), who lost to Australia’s Jason Whateley in a split decision. Sangwan dominated the opening round but Whateley fought back in the next two to clinch the issue.