A champion can’t miss the same target frequently if he is passionately dedicated to his cause. When Shiva Thapa had missed out on the Olympic berth at the World Championships in October despite winning a bronze medal, there weren’t many critics who believed that the Assamese boxer would not seal the ticket to the quadrennial event in his next attempt.
The boxer had firm belief that his path to Rio might be a crown of thorns with top Asian boxers in the fray, but he was going to make it a bed of roses with his skill, passion and hard work. He lived up to his words as he sealed the Olympic ticket after reaching the final of the Asian Olympic Qualifying event in Quina’an, China, on Thursday.
The 22-year-old Indian outclassed the 2013 World Championship bronze-medallist Kairat Yeraliyev of Kazakhstan in the semifinal to earn an Olympic ticket, his second in total. His first was in London where he was the youngest Indian to make the cut. So far, he is the only boxer from India to make it to the 2016 Olympics.
The happiness will only rise manifolds if the Indian boxer manages to beat second seed Chatchai Butdee of Thailand in the final on Friday.
After he qualified for the Rio Games, Shiva told IBNlive.com that the medal at the Doha World Championships in 2015 worked as a catalyst and it was as important a factor in his win on Thursday as was his dedication and sheer hard work.
“I was very positive and motivated after winning bronze medal at the world championship. I had missed the qualification by a close margin at that time. I worked hard this time and managed to achieve the mark.”
At 22, not many boxers get the privilege to represent the country in Olympics twice. Shiva is elated at grabbing the opportunity at such a young age. While he credited god for being a helping hand in the game of fists, he was equally thankful to the coaching staff at the national camp in Patiala.
“I am really happy after qualifying for the Rio Olympics. With god’s blessings, hard work and team effort, this became possible,” said Thapa, a 2010 Youth Olympics silver medallist.”
Shiva created a flutter as the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, but his sojourn at London turned out to be more an ‘experience’ trip than a medal-winning one, as the boxer crashed out of the tournament after losing the opening-round bout to Mexico’s Oscar Valdez.
But he proved that his London qualification was no fluke as in 2013 he became the youngest Indian to win a gold at the Asian Championships in Amman. The performance helped him earn a World Series of Boxing (WSB) contract where he played for the USA Knockouts.
The stint with the WSB was a dampener as he lost both his bouts, but in 2015, he proved that he has arrived at a big stage by winning bronze at world meet. Unfortunately, he lost in the box-off for an Olympic berth to Belarusian Dzmitry Asanau.
Thapa, however, finished his incomplete task with the Olympic qualification on Thursday. The boxer has now set his sights on an Olympic medal.
“Olympics has been my ultimate dream and to win a medal is my mission. I will work harder for Rio,” said Thapa.