IANS
New Delhi, Jun 10: Beijing Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh Tuesday stunned world champion Atoev Abbos of Uzbekistan to enter the quarterfinals of the Asian Boxing Championships in Zhuhai, China.
Vijender (75 kg) beat Atoev 10-3 and now meets Karipov Ruslan of Kyrgistan for a place in the semi-finals.
It turned out to be another good day for Indian boxers. Junior world champion Nanao Singh entered in the medal-bracket, beating Lu Chia-Lun of Chinese Taipei 8-4 to advance to the semifinals of the 48 kg category.
In the 57 kg category, Chhotelal Yadav outpunched Kazakhstan's Ospanov Maxat 15-1 to move into the quarterfinals.
Vijender and Atoev started cautiously and ended the first round on an equal footing of 3-3 points. In the second round, Vijender, taking advantage of his tall frame and better footwork, let loose some crisp uppercuts and jabs to lead 7-5.
Vijender was extremely careful to keep out of the reach of Atoev's wild swings which are his trademark. The Indian cleverly stepped aside often and landed telling blows to coast home.
Nanao, however, came through a tough fight in which he was down 1-3 after the first round.
The Indian kept his patience and waited for his chance to attack. He had a slender lead of 5-3 by the end of second round. Nanao kept the Taipei boxer at bay while using his punches to right effect in the third round and romped home. He will meet Nyayambayar Tugstogt of Mongolia in the semi-finals.
In the day's third bout for India, Chhote Lal demolished the Kazakh boxer.
Chhote Lal lead 7-1 in the first round and went on to punch aggressively in the next two rounds. He will face Masuk Wuttichai of Thailand in the quarterfinals.
The lone Indian boxer to lose Tueday was Jagat Singh Belal in the 69 kg category as he went down to Sapiyev Serik of Kazakhstan when the referee stopped the contest in the first round.
Four Indian Boxers will feature in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
Jitender Kumar (54kg) will take on Enkhjargal Iderkhuu of Mongolia, while Jai Bhagwan meets (60 kg) China's Hu Quinxun. In the 81 kg, Dinesh Kumar takes on Hsiao Huang-Yi of Chinese Taipei, while Gurlal Singh (91 kg) meets Almatbouli of Jordan.