India’s highest rated boxer in the AIBA ranking lists (6th) and World Championionship bronze medallist Shiva Thapa will have to overcome defending Olympic and former World Champion Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba in his first round encounter in the 56kg bantamweight division, says a report in The Indian Express.
In the light welterweight division Manoj Kumar will face London Olympic bronze medallist Evaldas Petrauskas of Lithuania. Vikas Krishan however has a slightly easier task as he takes on American Charles Conwell, who at 18 years is the youngest boxer in the draw in Rio.
“The hardest task of course is the one faced by Thapa in the bantamweight division. Cuba’s Ramirez is one of the biggest stars on the amateur boxing circuit. Both Ramirez and Thapa are 22 and coincidentally both burst onto the international scene in the same tournament – the 2010 Youth Olympic games. The two boxers faced each other in the final of that tournament with Ramirez winning by a comfortale 5-2 margin,” says the report.
Meanwhile, a report in The Hindu says that Bombayla Devi, in her third Olympics, Deepika Kumari (second), Laxmirani Majhi and Atanu Das (first) will attempt to set the tempo for the Indian contingent at the Sambadromo arena. After the setback at the London Games, they will be keen to come back with pleasant memories.
Along with Chinese Taipei, Japan, China and Russia, the Indian women’s squad, led by Deepika, is tipped to be one of the contenders to stop South Korea from winning its eighth successive gold since the introduction of the sport in the Olympics. However, the format to have set scores, used in the individual competition, in the team event too has evoked mixed response.
