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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality |  India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Shiva Thapa (1993-12-08)8 December 1993 (age 31) Guwahati, Assam, India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | Bantamweight (54 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boxing career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boxing record | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Win by KO | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Shiva Thapa (born 8 December 1993) is an Indian boxer. Thapa participated in the2012 London Olympics,[1] and was the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for theOlympics,[2] where he was eliminated in the very first round, beaten 9–14 by Mexico'sÓscar Valdez.[3] Thapa is ranked 3rd in the bantamweight category in the AIBA Men's World Ranking. He is the third Indian to clinch gold at the Asian Games.[4] Thapa is the third Indian boxer to win a medal at theAIBA World Boxing Championships.[5] Thapa has been elected as a member of theInternational Boxing Association (amateur) Athletes Committee.[6]
Shiva Thapa is the youngest of six children born to anIndian Gorkha father Padam Thapa, akarate instructor inGuwahati. His elder brother Gobind Thapa was anAssam state-level medal winningboxer;[7]Mike Tyson's bouts also inspired him to take the sport seriously.[8] Shiva rose as early as 3 a.m. to balance his training and studies.[9] Padam ensured that the monthly expenditure of₹30,000 (US$350) was taken care of.[7]Olympic Gold Quest, anot-for-profit foundation to identify and support Indian athletes, decided to support the young boxer as a part of their Vision 2016 initiative.[10] While signing Thapa,Viren Rasquinha, the chief operating officer of Olympic Gold Quest said:
Shiva is an enormous talent. He must be groomed well because he has the talent, the right attitude and the hunger to succeed. OGQ has very high hopes from Shiva and I am confident that he will become one of India's top boxing stars in the near future.[10]
At the 2008Children Asia International Sports Games that was held in Yakutsk (Russia) Shiva Thapa won a bronze medal in his category.[11] At the same year's Haider Aliyev Cup, he won the gold medal. Owing to this performance, he was chosen to representIndia in the 52-kg category at the 2009 Junior World Boxing Championships inArmenia.[12] Incidentally, Thapa was the lone international medalist from the team of seven boxers that travelled toYerevan.[13] Though Thapa ended up with a bronze medal,[14] the coach expressed his satisfaction at the boxers' performance who returned with their biggest haul of medals from this competition.[15]
At the 2010 Asian Youth Boxing Championships inTehran, Thapa failed to reach the semifinals in his category.[16] At theSecond Youth World Amateur Boxing Championships, Thapa was a part of the Indian team. This competition attracted a large number of boxers because it was the only qualification event for the2010 Summer Youth Olympics.[17] Touted to be a strong gold medalist, Thapa lost the finals and ended up with a silver medal. An injured fist during the semifinal bout left him in poor shape before the final bout. After having qualified for the Summer Youth Olympics,[18] the Indian coach suggested Thapa with a 20-day break to recover from his injury.[19] At the Youth Olympics, Thapa won the silver medal in the 54-kg category after losing to a Cuban boxer in the finals.[20]
In 2012Asian Olympic Qualifiers held inAstana,Kazakhstan, Shiva defeatedSyria'sWessam Salamana 18–11 to clinch the gold medal and qualified for2012 London Olympics in 56 kg category.[1] Thapa is the youngest Indian boxer to qualify forOlympics.[21] He, however, lost in the first round of the London Olympics, losing 9–14 to Mexico's Oscar Valdez Fierro in the (56 kg) Bantamweight category.[22]
TheGovernment of Assam rewarded him with₹100,000 (US$1,200).[23] TheIndian Olympic Association awarded him with₹400,000 (US$4,700) while congratulating him for his silver medal at the Youth Olympics, and government ofSikkim awarded him 500,000 rupees cash.[24]
In July 2013, Shiva became the youngest Indian to win a gold at the Asian Confederation Boxing Championship atAmman, Jordan.[25][26][27][28][29] Shiva Thapa participated in the 2013 World Boxing Championships, which was held atAlmaty,Kazakhstan and on his debut Shiva reached the quarterfinals[30][31] of the World Championship. Thapa became one of the first boxers from India to get aWorld Series of Boxing Contract. Maneesh Bahuguna, the CEO of his managing firm,Anglian Medal Hunt Company was quoted as having said, "Shiva’s outstanding achievements made him an undisputed choice for WSB. At such a young age, he has undeviating focus and love for his sport."[32][33] Shiva Thapa has been ranked 3rd in the bantamweight category in the latest AIBA Men's World Ranking.
In 2013, Thapa was named 'Assamese of the Year'[34] and was also given the ICC Sports Excellence Award.
Shiva Thapa had his first bout underWorld Series of Boxing USA Knockouts againstUkraine Ottoman'sMykola Butsenko,World Championship Bronze medalist inMiami, Florida. He fought the second bout against TeamGermany's Edgar Walth inFrankfurt.[35]
He was featured as one of the new youth leaders inIndia Today's '2014 Power of the New'.[36] Thapa is a consistent promoter of social causes, having participated incharitywalkathons andmarathons.[37][38]
He failed to get medals in both Commonwealth Games and Asian Games losing the bout in first round and quarterfinals respectively. Contradiction arise as the chance was not provided for better boxer Balakrishna Vankala of Southern Railways to participate in the Asian Games.[citation needed]
Shiva Thapa became only 3rd Indian to win a medal atAIBA World Boxing Championships when he won bronze.
Shiva Thapa qualified for the2016 Rio Olympic in theMen's 56 kg event, but failed to move beyond the first round after suffering a 0–3 defeat to eventual Gold medalistRobeisy Ramírez of Cuba.[39][40]
Shiva Thapa won silver at2017 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships in Tashkent after an injury-forced loss to second seed and local favouriteElnur Abduraimov.[41]
2019
He won gold medal at 2019 Tokyo Olympic test event by defeating Kazakhstan's national champion and Asian bronze-winner Sanatali Toltayev 5-0.
He is employed with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd.[42] He is supported byOlympic Gold Quest and Anglian Medal Hunt Company.[43][44][45]
