Gaurav Bidhuri, the lone Indian boxer assured of a medal from the Boxing World Championships 2017 in Hamburg, can only thank his luck as he gets set for his semi-finals match in the 56kg bantamweight category against America's Duke Ragan.
The 24-year-old wasn't even slated to compete in the Worlds event in the first place but thanks to a Bhutan boxer who relinquished his quota just ahead of the event, the Asian Boxing Confederation turned to Gaurav and provided him the big wildcard.
Shiva Thapa could have been one of the shining stars from the tournament, but the star boxer had to forfeit the tournament owing to food poisoning. Call it co-incidence or some divine intervention, Gaurav took upon his shoulders to achieve what Thapa couldn't do.
Gaurav joined an elite club consisting Vijender Singh (2009), Vikas Krishan (2011) and Shiva Thapa (2011) to take home bronze medals from the World Championships.
The pugilist, based out of New Delhi, has a major chance to change the colour of the medal, this time around, if he continues him impressive run against Ragan.
The 20-year-old American boxer is not an easy challenge for Gaurav by any means. Ragan was World Ringside National Champion in 2014 and 2015, the 2016 National Golden Gloves champion as well the 2016 USA Boxing Elite National Champion.
Gaurav Bidhuri's journey so far:
- National Games 2011: Bronze medal - after defeating L Devendro Singh
- Asian championships in May 2017, Tashkent: Made it to the quarterfinals
- World Championships, August 2017:
R16 - defeated Ukraine's star boxer Mykola Butsenko
Quarterfinal - defeated Bilel Mhamdi of Tunisia
Gaurav Bidhuri semi-final bout:
- Date: August 31
- Time: 6 pm local time (9:30 pm IST)
- Venue: Hamburg, Germany
How to watch live in India
Online streaming: AIBA Facebook page
