Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg) advanced to the quarterfinals of the World boxing championship in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Monday.
Asian champion Thapa defeated Olympian Alberto Meliban of Argentina in a split decision (2:1) in the pre-quarterfinals. Melian got the better of Shiva in the first round 29-28, but the Indian came back strongly in the second by the same score. In the final three minutes, Thapa went all out and won 30-27.
He next meets Javid Chalabiyev of Azerbaijan.
Olympian Manoj, seeded sixth, beat Canadian Yves Ulysse on a split decision (2:1). Manoj went down 28-29 in the opening round before bouncing back to take the next two 29-28, 29-28. He will face Yasniev Lopez of Cuba in the last eight.
Meanwhile, Th. Nanao Singh (49kg), Asian silver medallist in 2009, lost to eighth-seeded Anthony Chacon Rivera of Puerto Rico. Rivera won 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.
Manpreet Singh (91kg) went down to top-seeded Teymur Mammadov of Azerbaijan 27-30, 27-30, 27-30.
