In Nagoya, under the bright lights of Nishio Gymnasium, one of Nepal’s biggest boxing hopes walked out first as a flag bearer and then as a fighter. By the end of the night, Chandra Bahadur Thapa Magar had joined a painful list: another Nepali boxer halted at the very first hurdle.
The Asian Games bout in the men’s up to 55 kg category ended in a unanimous 5–0 decision to India’s Jadumani Singh Mandengbam. No controversy. No split. All five judges saw it the same way.
Their scorecards told the story: 30–27, 29–28, 29–28, 30–27, 30–27 in favor of the Indian. Three rounds. Three minutes each. Nine minutes in which Mandengbam did just enough in every judge’s eyes to keep a world bronze medallist at arm’s length.
The most jarring moment came in the third round. Thapa Magar, chasing the fight, went down and was credited with a knockdown after falling following a push from his opponent. It was the kind of detail that twists the knife on a difficult night: not a clean shot, not a dramatic finish, just a stumble that went against him on the card.
From world podium to early exit
This defeat cuts deeper because of what came before it. Only last year, Thapa Magar stood on the podium at the IBA Men’s World Championships with a bronze medal around his neck. The International Boxing Association ranked him third in the world in the elite men’s 51–54 kg weight category. He arrived in Nagoya as more than just another name in the draw; he was Nepal’s standard-bearer, literally and symbolically.
He led his country into the opening ceremony as flag bearer. He exits the ring in the preliminary round.
A rough start for Nepal’s boxing team
Thapa Magar’s loss was not an isolated blow. It was Nepal’s third straight defeat in the preliminary rounds of the boxing competition.
Earlier the same day, Ramisha Shrestha was outpointed by Vietnam’s Thi Tham Nguyen in the women’s up to 51 kg category. The verdict was as clear as Thapa Magar’s: a unanimous 0–5 decision against the Nepali boxer.
A day before that, Dan Bahadur Darlami had fallen to Iraq’s Ali Qasim Hamdan Al-Sarray in the men’s up to 70 kg division, again by unanimous decision. Three Nepali fighters in, three out, all before the tournament had really begun to take shape.
Others still standing
Nepal’s campaign is not over, but the margin for optimism has narrowed. Seven Nepali boxers entered these Asian Games; three have already seen their runs end.
Attention now turns to the remaining four. Hagendra Roka Magar was scheduled to face Macau’s Elvin John Reyes Salinas in the up to 60 kg category, a contest that will test whether Nepal can still carve out a foothold in these Games. In the up to 65 kg class, Kusum Tamang was due to meet China’s Shu Li, a daunting assignment against one of the region’s traditional powerhouses.
Higher up the weight ladder, Rabin Nepal was lined up to take on Thailand’s Jakkaphong Yomkhot in the up to 90 kg division, while Asmita Duwal carries hopes in the women’s up to 54 kg category.
For now, the image that lingers is stark: a world-ranked boxer, a national flag bearer, walking away from Nishio Gymnasium with a unanimous defeat on the card. The question for Nepal is whether those still to step through the ropes can change the tone of this Asian Games story, or whether Nagoya will be remembered as a tournament of missed chances for a rising boxing nation.
