Who is Nishant Dev? All you need to know about the Indian amateur boxer competing at the Paris Olympics 2024

Nishant Dev is an Indian amateur Boxer who is set to represent India in the 71 kg weight category at the Paris Olympics.

After a quarter-final finish at the World Championships 2021 in Serbia due to a shoulder injury, Nishant made a strong comeback by winning a Bronze medal at the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships 2023 held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan1.

The 23-year-old young sensation started his boxing career in 2012; Nishant Dev was inspired by his uncle, who had a history in professional boxing. He was initially trained by coach Surendra Chauhan at the Karan Stadium. His father used to accompany him to ensure his son was being trained well.

In 2019, he won two gold medals, one at the 2nd Khelo India Youth Games and another gold at the Grand Slam Asian Boxing Championship. In 2021 he clinched another gold at the 5th Elite Men's National Boxing Championship. Nishant added one more gold medal to his tally in 2023 at the 6th Elite Mens National Boxing Championship.

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How did Nishant Dev qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024?

Nishant Dev had a fascinating boxing career with several notable achievements and a career-haunting shoulder injury. He secured himself a spot at the Paris Olympics through the World Olympic Boxing Qualification tournaments.

In the opening round of the first qualification tournament, Nishant defeated Lewis Richardson of Great Britain and Eskerkhan Madiev of Georgia in the round of 32. Advancing to the pre-quarterfinals, he continued his winning streak and defeated Christos Karaitis of Greece by a 5-0 unanimous decision.

In the quarterfinals, Nishant, against USA's Omari Jones, started aggressively landing some fine punches and maintained a strong defense that kept Omari on the backfoot. In the second qualification tournament, he defeated Moldova’s Vasile Cebotari in a unanimous 5-0. That eventually got him a ticket to the Paris Olympics 2024.