Ahead of the AIBA Boxing World Championships, starting August 25 in Hamburg Germany, Indian pugilists made merry by winning eight medals at the 48th Grand Prix Usti Nad Labem in Czech Republic.
The fortnight-long Grand Prix tournament, which served as training-cum-competition event, saw the Indian contingent winning 5 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze to finish with an impressive eight medals.
Shiva Thapa (60kg) Gold
Former World Championships bronze medallist Shiva Thapa continued his good form with a commanding 5-0 win over Slovakia's Filip Meszaros in the 60kg category.
Notably, the 23-year-old became the first Indian boxer in May earlier this year to win three consecutive Asian Championships medals. Thapa had to settle for a Silver after losing to local favourite Elnur Abduraimov in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Manoj Kumar (69kg) Gold
Former Commonwealth Games gold-medalist and two-time Olympian Manoj Kumar was also at his best, beating local favourite David Kotrc 5-0.
Gaurav Bidhuri (56kg) Gold
Gaurav, who qualified as the eighth Indian boxer for World Championships after getting a quote place from Asian Boxing Confederation, received a huge boost ahead of the world meet by decimating Poland's Iwanow Jaroslaw 5-0.
All-India final (52kg)
Amit Phangal and Kavinder Bisht were involved in an all-Indian final, which saw the beginning of the medal rush for India.
In a tightly-fought contest, Amit won the top prize with a 3-2 win over Kavinder.
Satish Kumar (+91kg) Gold
In the Heavyweight bout, India's Sathish Kumar had to fend away a stiff challenge from Germany's Max Keller before finishing on the top step of the podium.
Meanwhile, Manish Panwar, who competed in the 69kg category, failed at the final hurdle against Germany's Ibragim Bazuev.
World Championships-bound boxer Sumit Sangwan (91kg), who won a silver at Asian Championships 2017, disappointed as he slipped in the semi-final to settle for a Bronze.
World Championships contingent
Notably, seven boxers -- Shiva, Manoj, Amit, Kavinder, Gaurav, Sumit and Satish -- who had competed in the recently-concluded tournament will head to Germany for the world event next month. Olympian Vikas Krishan (75kg), who preferred training back home over the Czech Republic meet, will also travel to Hamburg.
