Source: The Sangai Express / PTI(Poonam Mehra)
New Delhi, October 07 2010:
There was no stopping the Indian boxers' victory march at the Commonwealth Games with Asian gold-medallist Suranjoy Singh (52kg) and Amandeep Singh (49kg) advancing to the quarter finals, while defending champion Akhil Kumar (56kg) booking a place in the last-16 stage in front of a rapturous crowd at the Talkatora Stadium today.
On yet another day of dominance by Indian boxers, a packed audience at the dome-shaped arena was treated to some flamboyance by Akhil, tactful boxing by Amandeep and loads of energy by Suranjoy.
Akhil blanked Pakistan's Qadir Khan 7-0 to start his title defence on a perfect note even as Amandeep dug deep from his experience to notch up a hardfought 4-0 triumph over Rwanda's Haziza Matusi.
While Akhil takes on European silver-medallist Iain Weaver, to whom he lost in the opening round of the Commonwealth Championships earlier this year, Amandeep is up against Malaysia's Muhammad Fuad.
Later in the evening, Suranjoy showed what tempo-boxing is all about with a power-packed performance to out-punch Ghana's Olympian pugilist Manyo Plange 15-4 .
Amandeep started the day for India and had a tough time against Matusi.
The scoreline might suggest a 4-0 win but Amandeep said he was pushed to the limit by his rival.
Matusi's solid defence left Amandeep confused in the opening three minutes and it took him a while to find his rhythm.