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Lakra earns Olympics quota berth

CHICAGO: Featherweight pugilist Anthresh Lalit Lakra has been assured of a quota berth in next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing after making the quarterfinals at the World boxing championship.

Lakra came through a tricky 57kg pre-quarterfinal against Shahin Imranov of Azerbaijan(15-9).

Lakra will take on China’s Li Yang in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Yang, the Asian bronze medallist, defeated Carlos Zambrano Cordova of Peru 13-4. On Tuesday, Lakra and Imranov started their bout tentatively as a win meant a place in the Olympics. Lakra’s defensive stance is probably the best among the Indian boxers and that really helped him to win against the Azerbaijani.

Lakra took the first round 3-1 before Shahin stayed on course to make it 3-3 in the second round. Lakra was able to make a few contacts in the third that he won 5-3 before wrapping up the bout by winning the final round 4-2.

Flyweight Jitender Kumar and lightweight Jai Bhagwan are the other two Indian pugilists still in the fray.

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