Boxing World Qualifiers: Nishant becomes first male boxer to seal Paris Olympics berth

Bangkok (Thailand), May 31 (IANS) World Championships bronze medallist Nishant Dev (71kg) secured a spot in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics with a dominating 5-0 win over Moldovan Boxer Vasile Cebotari in the quarterfinal of the 2nd Boxing World Qualifiers here on Friday.

With this victory, Nishant also became the first male boxer to secure a berth at the Paris Olympics, joining three women pugilists Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti Sai Pawar (54kg), and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), who had confirmed their berths by winning bronze medals at the 2022 Asian Games.

The 23-year-old Nishant, who competes in the 71 kg category, started his quest for the Paris 2024 Olympics with a dominating 5-0 win over Armando Bighafa of Guinea-Bissau, followed by a knockout of Mongolia’s Otgonbaatar Byamba-Erdeneto in the Preliminary Rounds. Dev then beat Thailand's Peerapat Yeasungnoen 5-0 in the pre-quarterfinal, ahead of Friday’s result.

"I'm very happy to see Nishant book his place in the Indian contingent for the Paris Olympics. He's come really close to qualifying previously and deserves to be there. We've been directly involved in Nishant's progress since he was just 15 years old, and he has turned out to be one of the best boxers in the 71 kg weight category in the world. Now that his qualification is secure, we're going to start focusing on the Games," said Manisha Malhotra, Head of Sports Excellence and Scouting at JSW Sports.

The boxer from Karnal was among the first batch of athletes to be enrolled in the Inspire Institute of Sport in 2017 and was just one win away from qualifying for the Paris Olympics at the 1st World Olympic Qualifiers, missing out with a loss to Omari Jones of USA, in the quarterfinal held in Busto Arsizio, Italy, in March.

"This is a moment of immense pride for all of us at IIS because Nishant was among the first athletes to walk through the doors of our facility in 2017. He's had numerous challenges along the way, and I am really proud of the way he has persevered. The coaches, sports science staff, and several others at IIS have played a massive part in this journey, and we're all rooting for him to go on and do big things in Paris,” said Inspire Institute of Sport CEO, Rushdee Warley, speaking on the feat.

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