Azerbaijan : Commonwealth Games silver-medallist L Devendro Singh (49kg) stormed into the semifinals, while Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) entered the quarters to be just one win away from clinching Olympic berths at the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) World Qualifying Tournament on Tuesday.
Fourth seed Devendro, who hammered South Africa’s Bandla Sibusiso 3-0 in the quarterfinal, is assured of a medal after today’s win but will have to make the summit clash to qualify for Rio as only two quota places are up for grabs in the 49kg division. He will face Spain’s Samuel Heredia, who stunned top seed Dmytro Zamotaev of Ukraine.
“It was a very good performance by Devendro. He is a boxer with a big heart and he keeps showing that in every bout he fights,” national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu told PTI.
Manoj, Sumit enter Oly qualifiers
Meanwhile, former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj and Sumit will be through to the Rio Games if they enter the semifinals after a rest day today.
While Manoj got the better of Bulgaria’s Ismetov Ayrin Smetov 3-0, Sumit also stormed past Sandagsuren Erdenebayar of Mongolia 3-0.
Manoj was the first to take the ring and he rallied to beat Ismetov in his pre-quarterfinal contest. The Indian fought back after losing the opening round against an aggressive rival.
“Manoj endured a very tough bout but to his credit, he not just hung in there but also fought back brilliantly. His opponent was a very sharp puncher but he sustained a cut in the second round which slowed him down. Manoj took advantage of it and came back,” Sandhu said.
The former Asian bronze-medallist will now face Tajikistan’s Rakhimov Shavkatdzhon, who defeated Bahrain’s Williams Rashield in his last-16 stage contest.
