The Hindu : Sport / Boxing : Indians continue to pack a punch

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Indians continue to pack a punch

Boxing / Coach elated

New Delhi: Doha Asiad bronze medallist Vijender led the charge as three more Indian pugilists inched within one win of booking a Beijing Olympics berth by advancing to the semifinals of the Asian Boxing Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday.

The trio of Vijender (75kg), Jitender Kumar (51kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg) sailed past their respective opponents to take the total number of Indians in the semifinals to six.

While Vijender thrashed Mongolian Nandin Munguntsooi 23-10, Jitender got the better of Chinese Gao Linzhi 11-7 in the quarterfinals.

Manoj trounced Tajik Djuraev Hurshed 14-2 to round off an all-win day for the Indians. The trio now stands just one win away from Olympic qualification as even a silver medal would fetch them a ticket to Beijing. An elated national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu said “I don’t have words to describe how brilliant these boys were today. Jitender deserves a special mention as he was simply unstoppable. In fact, he got a standing ovation from the local fans for his splendid performance.”

After the rest-day on Friday, Jitender will take on Kazakhstan’s Sarsembayev Mirat in the semis, while Vijender will square off against Iranian Amiri Homayon.

Manoj, meanwhile, will be up against Kyrgyzstan’s Madaminov Akmatali.

The other three Indians, who have already advanced to the semifinals are Dinesh Kumar (81kg), Dilbag Singh (69kg) and Praveen Kumar (+91kg).

Of these, Dilbag and Praveen are yet to take the ring as they got first-round byes. — PTI

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