Sushil Thapa of Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) and Diwan Sharma of Nepal Police Club (NPC) entered the quarter-finals of the third Bir Ganeshman National Boxing Championships on Tuesday.

In the men’s 49kg weight division Thapa got the better of Suraj Gurung of Province 4 and Sharma ousted another Province 4 boxer Aakriti Gurung in the women’s category. In the men’s 49kg division, Pawan Shrestha of Province 2 overcame Dharmendra Rai of Province 1 to go through. Surendra Rai of Province 1 saw off Duth Bahadur Pariyar of Province 4 in the men’s 56kg and Sushila Thapa of Province 5 sidelined Sapana Gurung in the women’s 46-58kg. Sunil Shahi of Province 3 and Bharat Chand of Province 8 won their respective matches in the men’s 60kg category.

Shahi ousted Sagar Shrestha of Province 6 and Bharat overwhelmed Robin Pradhan of Province 1. In the last bout of the day, Kishor Sharma won the men’s 64kg category beating Bikram Chaudhary of Province 7. All the winners on Tuesday entered the quarter-finals.

Earlier during the inauguration of the tournament, former national boxer and current coach Suresh Ale Magar was honoured with Rs 101,000 for his contribution to the game. Prakash Man Singh, the president of Ganesh Man Singh Foundation, inaugurated the tournament.

The four-day event is contested by pugilists from all seven provinces who were picked up following selection tournaments.