On the third day of the second edition of India Open International Boxing Tournament at the Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi AC Indoor Stadium, Asian Championships Bronze medallist Shiva Thapa entered into semi-finals assuring a medal for India.
Amidst deafening roars of support, Thapa scored 5-0 win over Hellene Damien of Mauritius. Thapa, the first Indian to win medals from four consecutive Asian Championships, started with a defensive attitude until he freed up from the second round to deliver the blows.
“Never have I contested such a tall boxer before. My strategy was to attack from inside and I am glad I could execute my plan with perfection,” said Thapa after the win.
This Indian boxer is an emerging talent that India is proud to have. As the country rejoices over his success, here are a few facts about this 25-year-old boxer.
Early Life
Thapa was born in Assam to a Nepali-origin father Padam Thapa who is a karate-instructor by profession. He is the youngest of six siblings. His father, who himself is an Assam-state level medal-winning boxer, always wanted his sons to take up Karate as a sport and represent India at the Olympics.
When he came to know that karate is not a recognized sport in the Olympics, he told his sons to switch to boxing in order to get a chance of representing the nation. Thapa was then trained at Pune-based Army Sports Institute.
Shiva soon picked up boxing and was practising hard for it. His father, however, could not support him financially and was relieved when Olympic Gold Quest decided to support Shiva as part of their Vision 2016 plan for Olympics.
Achievements
Shiva Thapa (Source: Instagram / shivathapa1)
In 2008, Shiva won a Bronze medal in his category at the Children of Asia International Sports Games in Moscow. The same year he won a Gold medal at the Haider Aliyev Cup. Later, he represented India in the 52 kg weight category at the 2009 Junior World Boxing Championships in Armenia. He won a bronze medal.
In the 2010 Asian Youth Boxing Championships in Tehran, Shiva’s performance was low and he didn’t reach the semifinals.
Shiva Thapa (Source: Instagram / shivathapa1)
At the 2010 Youth World Amateur Boxing Championship, Shiva Thapa was part of the Indian team as many participated to qualify for the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. Thapa ended up with a silver medal in the Championship due to an injured fist in the semifinal bout. At the Summer Youth Olympics, Shiva won a silver medal in the 54 kg category in the finals.
He qualified for the 2012 London Summer Olympics and was the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for Olympics.
Hobbies and Interest
He is an animal lover (Source: Instagram / shivathapa1)
Thapa is an animal lover and it is evident from his Instagram pictures that he keeps uploading. He loves spending time with dogs in his free time.
Experimenting with looks (Source: Instagram / shivathapa1)
Shiva also loves to experiment with his looks. He has donned different looks on his Instagram page, from colouring his hair to wearing different styles of clothes. Currently, he has black hair but earlier he donned a blonde look as well.
Apart from boxing, he loves to travel and spend time with family whenever he gets free from his boxing schedule.
