Akhil Kumar became the second Indian after AL Lakra to qualify for the Beijing Games when he defeated Ryom Chol Jin of North Korea in the 54 kg category bout at the Asian Championships, a qualifying tournament for the Olympics, in Bangkok tonight.

The bantam weight boxer from the Railways was the lone bright spot on a night when another Indian, Amandeep Singh, went down fighting. Dinesh Kumar and Manpreet Singh threw in the towel without much ado.

Akhil, who owes his qualification to the Mittal Champions Trust (MCT), was at his brilliant best tonight. Taking on the North Korean, the Indian unleashed a flurry of combination punches to log quick points and push the former to the ropes. Even before the third round was over, the referee had to stop the contest to award the Indian an ‘outclass’ verdict.

Akhil, who failed to make it to the nationals in Delhi, after he had badly injured his right wrist, thanked MCT’s Manisha Malhotra for all they did to revive him. “I was down in the dumps with a bad wrist. She took me to a specialist in Mumbai and then in Chandigarh before my recovery programme was chalked out. Only recently I returned to the rings and I am happy to have got an Olympic berth,” he told The Indian Express from Bangkok.

National Coach GS Sandhu was generous in his praise, but also sounded cautious saying that Akhil has a tough bout in the final against Athens Olympics silver medalist Worapoj Petchkoom of Thailand.

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