*Akash Kumar (in Red) during his quarter-final at the 2021 Men's World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia

Akash Kumar is the lone Indian challenger left in contention at AIBA  World Boxing  Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

The 21-year-old boxer, who hails from Bhiwani, made his way into the  54 kg category semi-finals after causing one of the major upsets in the 21st edition of the tournament as he thrashed the Rio Olympics silver medallist and strong medal contender Yoel Finol (Venezuela) 5-0.

 The Indian will take on  Kazakhstan’s Makhmud Sabyrkhan in a fight on Thursday or a place in the final.  

(Akash Kumar during his quarter-final at the 2021 Men's World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia)

 The 20-year-old young Kazakh sealed his spot in the last four after outclassing Brazil’s Michael Trinidade.

Akash's four other teammates -Sanjeet, Narender Berwal, Shiva Thapa, and Nishant Dev, crashed out of the championship after losing their respective quarter-finals bout played late on Tuesday night.

(India's Narender in action during his quarter-final match against Azerbaijan’s Mahammad Abdullayev at the 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia on Tuesday night)

The seasoned boxer Shiva Thapa went down to Turkey’s Kerem Oezmen 0-5  in the 63.5kg Last-8 match while it was yet another quarter-final heartbreak for the reigning Asian champion Sanjeet. The Indian conceded a 0-5 loss against Italy’s Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine after suffering a biceps injury in the first round during the 92kg contest. 

In the last edition of the championships in 2019 as well, Sanjeet had exited in the quarter-finals stage.  

(India's Sanjeet (in Blue) during his quarter-final bout against Italy’s Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine at the 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia)

Narender (+92kg) and Nishant (71kg) also lost to Azerbaijan’s Mahammad Abdullayev and Russia’s Vadim Musaev respectively in their quarter-finals.

With a place in the semi-finals, debutant Akash joined an elite list of medal-winning Indian pugilists at the world’s one of biggest boxing events. 

Amit Panghal (silver in 2019), Vijender Singh (bronze in 2009), Vikas Krishan (bronze in 2011), Shiva Thapa (bronze in 2015), Gaurav Bidhuri (bronze in 2017), and Manish Kaushik (bronze in 2019) have won medals for the country at the  Championships in the past.

(India's Shiva Thapa during his quarter-final match against Turkey’s Kerem Oezmen at the 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia on Tuesday night)

(India's Shiva Thapa punches Turkey’s Kerem Oezmen during his quarter-final match at the 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia on Tuesday night)

The gold medallists of each category will receive $100,000 while silver and bronze medallists will be given $50,000 and $25,000 respectively. Alongside an enormous prize pool of $2.6 million,

(Nishant Dev (in Red) during quarter-final bout against Russia’s Vadim Musaev at the 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia on Tuesday night)

AIBA will also award the winners with beautifully designed medals, made of gold and silver respectively, and belts to commemorate their accomplishments.
 

(Nishant Dev (in Red) in action during quarter-final bout against Russia’s Vadim Musaev at the 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia on Tuesday night)

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