Indian boxer Shiva Thapa beats Pakistan’s Suleman Baloch, reaches pre-quarter in CWG 2022

Indian boxer Shiva Thapa kickstarted his Commonwealth Games campaign by defeating Pakistan's Suleman Baloch in the first round of the 63.5kg category in Birmingham on Friday. The 28-year-old Thapa hardly broke a sweat as he registered a comprehensive 5-0 win over Baloch to move to the pre-quarterfinals of the light welterweight.

The decision from the judges was unanimous at the NEC Arena.

The 28-year-old, who was eliminated in the pre-quarters of Glasgow 2014 in his only CWG appearance prior to these Games, will next face Reese Lynch of Scotland in the round of 16 on



Sunday.

This also kicked off in style India's campaign in the boxing ring, where they have some exciting prospects in reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen, Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain and world championship silver medallist Amit Panghal.

India would look to eclipse their Gold Coast's record tally of three gold, three silver and three bronze medals.

From the highs of winning a World Championship bronze in 2015 to the debacle at the 2016 Rio Olympics, followed by his failure to make the Tokyo Games, the Guwahati boxer's life has come a full cycle.