At 27, Shiva Thapa is a five-time Asian medalist and would be competing in his third world championship in Belgrade, Serbia from October 24th. Adding to his credit is the fact that Thapa is among just the six male boxers from India who have a medal at amateur boxing’s biggest showpiece after the Olympics.
The two-time Olympian has been rebuilding after falling off the radar for a while. He couldn’t cut Tokyo Olympics as his rival in the weight category, Manish Kaushik, claimed the slot in the very first qualifier. Thapa won a medal in 2015 but in 2017, when the event was held in Hamburg, a stomach ailment forced him to withdraw without competing.
The former youth Olympics silver-winner made a statement with his fifth Asian championship medal in May earlier this year. Now with the national title under his belt, Thapa is eager to become the first Indian male boxer to grab a second world championship medal come October.