Paris: Nishant Dev was eliminated by Marco Verde by judges’ decision 1-4 in favour of the Mexican in the quarterfinals of the Men’s 71 kg bout in the boxing competition of the 33rd Olympic Games here on Saturday (local time).
A win would have secured a medal for India as two bronze medals are awarded to both the losing semifinalists in Olympics boxing. With Nishant’s loss, Vijender Singh (2008 Beijing) remains the only Indian male boxer to win a medal at the Summer Games.
The bout started on a fiery note with Alvarez coming swinging out of the blocks and Nishant on the defensive for most of the opening round but strategic body blows gave Nishant the 4-1 advantage in the first round.
The Mexican came back in the second round and barely edged out Nishant to level the bout in the second round with a 2-3 decision by the judges. By the third round, Nishant looked wary of the Mexican’s constant attacks and lost 0-5 in the final round.
In a close-fought encounter, Nishant Dev had edged out the seventh-seeded Ecuadorian boxer Jose Gabriel Tenorio Rodriguez 3-2 by unanimous decision to book his place in the quarterfinals in what is his debut at the Summer Olympics.
India’s final boxing aspirant remaining at the 2024 Paris Olympics is 2020 Tokyo bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain, who will be facing China’s Li Qian in the quarterfinals of the 75 kg women’s category on Sunday.
Nikhat Zareen, Amit Panghal, Jaismine Lamboria and Preeti Pawar have all already been eliminated from the fray at the Games.
