The top seed beat Kazakhstan’s Kairat Yeraliyev in the semi-final and will now go on to face Thailand’s Chatchai Butdee, who defeated the Philippines’ Mario Fernandez in the other last-four encounter.

Thapa, 22, is set for his second Olympic appearance, four years after he became the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the leading international sporting event.

"I want to thank god for having managed to achieve this," he told the Press Trust of India.

"I was very worked up about this bout, it was the most important bout for me.

"So I am totally exhausted and relieved at the same time."

There was disappointment though for Thapa’s compatriot Mary Kom as the top seeded women’s flyweight suffered a semi-final loss at the hands of China’s Ren Cancan.

With only the gold and silver medallists qualifying for Rio 2016 in the women’s categories, the five-time world champion and London 2012 bronze medallist will now have to wait until the World Championships in May to have another shot at securing her place. 

Another Indian to lose out at the penultimate stage was Devendro Singh Laishram, who lost against the top seeded light flyweight Rogen Ladon of the Philippines.

The Commonwealth Games silver medallist will now go up against Mongolia’s Gan-Erdene Gankhuyag in a battle for an Olympic quota place.  

Ladon, the number one seed and world bronze medallist, will next fight for gold against Uzbekistan’s Hasanboy Dusmatov.

Dusmatov beat Ladon in the finals of the 2015 ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships.

In the women’s lightweight division, Australia's Commonwealth Games gold medallist Shelley Watts was awarded victory by two of the three judges in her bout with Thailand’s Tassamalee Thongjan.

Earlier, fellow Australian Daniel Lewis was unlucky to lose on points against hometown favourite Minggang Zhao in the men’s middleweight category.