By B Shrkant

Birmingham, Jul 29 (IANS): India's former World Championship bronze medallist, Shiva Thapa made a strong start in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games here on Friday, outplaying Pakistan's Suleman Baloch 5-0 in a Round of 32 bout in the men's light welterweight division (60kg-63.5 kg) to make it to the pre-quarterfinals here.

Playing from the Red corner, Shiva, the lone Indian boxer on display on the opening day of the competition, started strongly and did not give his opponents any chance as he won a unanimous decision for a win on points.

The seasoned Shiva launched a flurry of punches at the start of each of the three rounds and was scored as the winner by all five courtside judges. He was scored 30-26, 30-25, 30-28, 30-36, 30-26 and 30-23 for the bout by the five judges.

India has put up a strong 12-member team including eight male and four female boxers.

Shiva, the former Asian Championships gold medallist, was too strong for Suleman Baloch, Pakistan's national champion in his division.

Shiva will now take on Reese Lunch of Scotland in the Round of 16 bout on Sunday (July 31).