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Journalism of Courage
Prior to going for the world boxing championships, chief national coach GS Sandhu had expressed confidence that almost all the members of his team will at least reach the quarter finals. His prognosis seems to have gone a bit off the mark but still five out of eight pugilists so far have managed to reach the second round.
According to information reaching here today, the Indian pugilists had a mixed day at the world meet, with three out of five boxers advancing to the second round.
While Jitender Kumar (51kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and Dilbag Singh (69kg) dominated their respective bouts, Balbir Singh (48kg) and Jasveer Singh (81kg) faced the exit doors in the opening round of the first qualifying event for next year’s Beijing Olympics.
Haryana boxer Jitender overcame Moldova’s Igori Samoilenco in the flyweight category.
The Indian held a slender two-point lead over Samoilenco in the first round and built on it in the next three to come through 20-14.
Jitender will now face Ronny Belbik of Germany in the second round tomorrow. Belbik defeated Colombian Urina William Serna 16-13 in his opening bout.
The 26-year-old Dilbag had little trouble in making his first move towards Olympic qualification registering a comfortable 13-5 victory over Lithuania’s Roman Skerlo.
In the second round, Dilbag will face Serb Zoran Mitrovic. Mitrovic defeated England’s Neil Perkins 17-12.
Jai Bhagwan also advanced to the next round by thrashing Bahamas’ Valertino Knowles 35-12. It was a superb performance by Bhagwan, who collected 21 points in the second and third round to keep alive his hopes for Beijing.
Bhagwan now meets Georgia’s Vasil Qazishvili, who beat South African Owethu Mbira 28-15, on October 28. However, Balbir was hardly a match for his Kazakh opponent Birzham Zhakypov in the lightfly weight category. The Central Asian led from start to finish in ousting the Indian 27-11.
However, Jasveer Singh crashed out in the light heavyweight category. Jasveer struggled against China’s Xiaoping Zhang and failed to score a single punch in the second and third round before going down 17-3. Doha Asian Games silver medallist Vijender (75kg) and AL lakra (57kg) had advanced to the next round on Wednesday.
