Nishant Dev loses to Omari Jones, fails to bag Paris Olympics quota

India’s Nishant Dev has failed to bag a quota place for the Paris Olympics 2024 after he faltered in the World Olympic Boxing Qualifier, which is taking place at Busto Arsizio in Italy.

On Monday, March 11, Nishant lost 1-4 to Omari Jones of the United States of America (USA) in the quarterfinals of the 71 kg category event.

Nishant needed to secure victory over his American opponent to bag India’s fifth quota place in the Olympics and first in the men’s category. However, he faltered big time and it was Jones who booked a ticket to Paris instead.

The other four quotas belong to Nikhat Zareen (50 kg), Preeti (54 kg), Parveen Hooda (57 kg), and Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg) after they put in impressive performances in the Asian Games that took place last year in Hangzhou.

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Nishant Dev goes down fighting

Nishant fought hard in the first two rounds and kept Omari on his toes. But as the bout progressed, Omari upped his game while Nishant struggled to maintain his rhythm. Omari made it 5-0 for a brilliant start.

Nishant tried to hit back with some left hooks and jabs and went for holding and grappling. But Omar brought forth all his experience by counter-attacking. In the end, it was Nishant, who won the round 4-1.

In the third and final round, both Nishant and Omari threw punches at each other. They looked like they were running out of gas, but neither threw in the towel. In the last 60 seconds, Omari went berserk and churned out some effective punches.

In the end, it was Omari who had the last laugh after three judges gave the American 10s.

Indian boxers will have their last and final chance of qualifying for the Olympics when the Qualifiers take place from May 23 to June 3 in Bangkok.

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