| Shiva Thapa | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Shiva Thapa |
| Rated at | Flyweight (54 kg) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Born | 8 December 1993 Guwahati, Assam, India |
Shiva Thapa (born 8 December 1993) is an Indian boxer from Guwahati, Assam. He trains at Pune-based Army Sports Institute and is supported by Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit foundation to identify and support Indian athletes.[1]
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Shiva Thapa was born as the youngest of six siblings born to Padam Thapa, a karate instructor in Guwahati. His father and elder brother Gobind Thapa, an Assam state-level medal winning boxer, were sources of inspiration for the young Thapa;[2] Mike Tyson's bouts also inspired him to take the sport seriously.[3] Padam noticed his son’s flair for boxing and made sure that his youngest son got all that he needed. Shiva rose early in the mornings to balance his training and studies. His practice first started in the living room of their house at the age of seven. It was not easy for Padam to support for his son's training, travel and special diet because of the large family. He ensured that the monthly expenditure of 30,000 (US$570) was taken care of.[2] Things become simple for the Thapa family when Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit foundation to identify and support Indian athletes, decided to support the young boxer as a part of their Vision 2016 initiative.[4] 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.[4]
At the 2008 Children of Asia International Sports Games that was held in Moscow, Shiva Thapa won a bronze medal in his category.[5] At the same year's Haider Aliyev Cup, he won the gold medal. Owing to this performance, he was chosen to represent India in the 52-kg category at the 2009 Junior World Boxing Championships in Armenia.[6] Incidentally, Thapa was the lone international medalist from the team of seven boxers that traveled to Yerevan.[7] Though Thapa ended up with a bronze medal,[8] the coach expressed his satisfaction at the boxers' performance who returned with their biggest haul of medals from this competition.[9]
At the 2010 Asian Youth Boxing Championships that was held in Tehran, Thapa had a dismal performance when he didn't reach the semifinals in his category.[10] At the Second Youth World Amateur Boxing Championships, Thapa was a part of the Indian team. This competition attracted a huge number of boxers because it was the only qualification event for the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.[11] 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,[12] the Indian coach suggested Thapa with a 20-day break to recover from his injury.[13] At the Youth Olympics, Thapa won the silver medal in the 54-kg category after losing to a Cuban boxer in the finals.[14] Currently, Thapa is preparing for the 2012 Summer Olympics.[2]
In appreciation of his accomplishments, the Government of Assam rewarded him with 1 lakh (US$1,900).[15] The Indian Olympic Association awarded him with 4 lakh (US$7,600) while congratulating him for his silver medal at the Youth Olympics.[16]