India Open Boxing | There are a lot of expectations from me for gold, says Shiva Thapa

Shiva Thapa will fight it out at his home ground when he will step into the ring at the India Open boxing meet to be held in Assam’s Guwahati from Monday. The 25-year-old recently bagged a bronze medal at the Asian Boxing Championships and also did well to clinch a silver at the GeeBee Boxing Tournament earlier this month. Now, with the India Open meet starting soon, he has an aim of winning a gold and knows the fact that there are a lot of expectations from him as well.

The pugilist will now shift to 63 kg to book a place in the Tokyo Olympics from the World Championships and will aim to do well in the upcoming tournament. He has said that a good result and a good show at the India Open will give him the confidence to do well in the global event later.

Six boxers from Assam will fight it out in the ring during the tournament and Guwahati boy Thapa is one of them. He is excited to step into the ring in front of his home crowd and has said that getting a chance to inspire young boxers is a major source of motivation for players like him. Thapa also asserted that the North-eastern states of India are powerhouse of talent.

 “I am very excited to get a chance to play in my hometown. Getting a chance to inspire youngsters is a major source of motivation for us. When we first began at the sub-junior level, we used to get inspired by watching our seniors and how they used to play.