Jitender makes semis, Sanjit sent crashing

Jitender makes semis, Sanjit sent crashing
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Taejeon City (S Korea), Jan 23: MiddleweighT pugilist Jitender Kumar kept alive Indian hopes for more Olympic qualifying berths by waltzing into the semi-final of the fifth Seoul Cup and second Asian Olympic qualifying boxing tournament on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Commonwealth Games silver medallist opened his campaign here with an emphatic 13-5 points verdict over Baurzan of Kazakhstan after gaining a bye into the quarter-final stage.

But India, who clinched their first berth through lightheavy Gurcharan Singh on Saturday, suffered another setback when lightwelter hope Sanjit Kumar Singh went down to Thai pugilist Pongsak in a narrow 7-10 points verdict.India can look forward to two more berths, with Jitender and lightfly Suresh Singh still in the reckoning.

The eight-man Indian squad suffered its biggest shock when bantamweight Asian Games gold medallist Dingko Singh was toppled in the first round, while flyweight Srinivasa Rao, featherweight Ramanand and lightweight Narendra Rana, besides SanjitSingh, made premature exits.

In Monday's semifinal, Jitender will take on Batbujan of Mongolia and a win will gain him the Olympic berth.

Sanjit Singh of Manipur made for his lack of experience with guts and determination against Pongsak. The Indian, adopting a southpaw's stance, exhibited his firepower but his seasoned Thai rival, trailing 1-3 after the first round, bounced back.