Olympian Sumit Sangwan and 2 other Indian pugilists will battle it out in the pre-quarterfinals of the World Boxing Championships at Almaty in Kazakhstan today.

Sumit Sangwan will lock horns with eighth seed Siarhei Novikau of Belarus in the 81kg division, while Vikash Malik will slug it out against fifth seed Miklos Varga of Hungary in the 60kg category.

In the +91kg section, Satish Kumar will clash with Belarus’ Yan Sudzilouski for a quarterfinal berth.

Yesterday, rising Indian boxer Shiva Thapa in 56kg and Manoj Kumar in 64kg booked a place in the last-8 stage, after registering superb victories. A win in the quarterfinals, scheduled for tomorrow, will assure both of at least a bronze medal in the mega-event.

However, Nanao Singh in the 49kg category and Manpreet Singh in the 91kg section lost in the pre-quarterfinals yesterday.