Indian pugilist Sachin Siwach (54kg) was at the top of his game on Monday as he defeated Moldova’s Serghei Novac comfortably to reach the pre-quarterfinals of the ongoing IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Sachin dominated the match from the beginning and registered a 5-0 unanimous decision over his opponent. The 2021 World Youth champion started aggressively and never let his guard down in the first round.

He continued with the same strategy in the second round as well. He landed some heavy punches on his opponent with swift movements. Sachin was all over Novach in the third and final round with precise hits and received the decision of all the judges in his favour.

He will now face top seed Kazakhstan’s Makhmud Sabyrkhan in pre-quarters on Tuesday.

Later in the day, Naveen (92kg) went down 0-5 against Enmanuel Reyes of Spain. The Indian boxer found it hard to get into a rhythm in the first round and could not find his feet in the second round as well. Naveen tried hard to get back into the game in the last round but it was too late and the Indian boxer los.

Govind Sahani (48kg) also suffered a 0-5 defeat against top seed Sakhil Alakhverdovi of Georgia. The Georgian boxer was too quick for him. He kept Govind at bay throughout the bout.

Deepak (51kg), Nishant Dev (71kg) and Akash Sangwan (67 kg) will be in action in their respective pre-quarterfinal bouts on Tuesday. Deepak (51kg), who produced a massive result in the previous round by stunning the reigning world champion, will face Jiamao Zhang of China, while Nishant Dev will go up against Nidal Foqahaa of Palestine. Akash Sangwan will play against Kazakhstan’s Dulat Bekbauov.

The ongoing tournament is witnessing the participation of 538 boxers, including several Olympic medallists, from 107 countries.