India’s Gaurav Bidhuri assured India of their first medal at the World Boxing Championship on Tuesday by beating Tunisian Bilel Mhamdi in the quarter-finals in Hamburg. Bidhuri becomes only the fourth Indian to win a medal at the Championships after Vijender Singh, Vikas Krishan Yadav and Shiva Thapa.
Bhiduri was on the offensive from the word go. He had his opponent on the ropes on more than one occasion with his combination punches and also left him with a cut on his forehead in the opening round. It went from bad to worse for Mhamdi after he ended up getting a warning for failing to keep his head up in the second round. The Tunisian upped the ante in the final three minutes and delivered some good right hooks but Bhiduri had done enough by then to seal the issue in his favour.
But there was slight disappointment as Amit Phangal bowed out in the quarter-final stage of the 49kg category.
India’s Kavinder Singh Bisht is also one win away from assuring India of another medal. The 24-year-old Bisht beat two-time world championship medallist Mohamed Flissi of Algeria 3-2 on Monday. Kavinder will take on Inkyu Kim of Korea in the quarter-finals in the 52kg category later in the day.
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