Nishant Dev enters pre-quarterfinals of World Olympic Boxing Qualifiers

Busto Arsizio (Italy): World Championships bronze-medallist Nishant Dev out-punched Georgia's Madiev Eskerkhan to enter the men's 71kg category pre-quarterfinals of the first World Olympic Boxing Qualifiers here.

The Indians won by a unanimous 5-0 margin on Thursday night.

Tokyo Olympics quarterfinalist Eskerkhan looked clueless against the Indian's attack. He tried his best to recover in the second round but Nishant denied him any chance of a comeback.

Nishant will play his Round of 16 bout on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the youth world champion Ankushita Boro (66kg) and national champion Sanjeet (92kg) suffered contrasting defeats in the opening round.

While Ankushita went down fighting 2-3 against Sonvico Emilie of France, Sanjeet lost 0-5 to Aibek Oralbay of Kazakhstan, continuing what has overall been a poor outing for the country's boxers.

This tournament, featuring over 590 boxers, offers a total of 49 quotas, including 28 for men and 21 for women for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

India has already secured four quotas for Paris with Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) confirming their berths at the Asian Games.

The second World Qualification Tournament will be held in Bangkok from May 23 to June 3.