Six Indians in finals of GeeBee Boxing tournament in Finland

There was no stopping the Indian juggernaut as Shiva Thapa and Mohammed Hussamuddin, along with four others, advanced to the finals of the 38th GeeBee Boxing Tournament in Helsinki, Finland.

Thapa (60kg), a three-time Asian medallist besides being a former bronze-winner at the world championships, out-punched Russia’s Mikhail Varlamov to notch up a 5-0 triumph.

The Assamese boxer has set up a summit showdown with local favourite Arslan Khataev. Signing off with bronze medals after semifinal losses were Sumit Sangwan (91kg) and former youth world champion Sachin Siwach (52kg).

It will be a rare all-Indian final in the 56kg category with Hussamuddin taking on Kavinder Singh Bisht, a world championship quarterfinalist.

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Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Hussamuddin pulled off a narrow 3-2 triumph over Kazakhstan’s Zhanbolat Kydyrbayev, while Bisht got the better of Frenchman Jordan Rodriquez to make the finals.

Also advancing to the final were Dinesh Dagar (69kg), Naveen Kumar (+91kg), and rookie Govind Sahani (49kg).

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Dagar, a silver-medallist from last year’s India Open, fetched a split 4-1 verdict over Sergei Sobylinski of Russia. He will be facing Commonwealth Games gold-medallist England Pat McCormack in the finals. McCormack is also a two-time European silver-medallist.

Naveen also won 4-1 against Australia’s Justis Huni and will fight for gold against England’s Frazer Clarke.

Sahani was more dominant in his 5-0 triumph over Russia’s Artysh Sojan. He will square off against Thailand’s Thitisan Panmod in his summit showdown.

However, Sangwan lost 0-5 to England’s Chevon Clarke, while Sachin was defeated 1-4 by Kyrgyzstan’s Azat Usenaliev.