Boxers Vijender,Bhagwan storm into pre-quarters

Indian boxing's pin-up boy Vijender Singh and Jai Bhagwan set the ring ablaze.

Indian boxing’s pin-up boy Vijender Singh and Jai Bhagwan set the ring ablaze with dominating performances on their way to the pre-quarterfinals at the Olympics Games here.

Beijing Games bronze medallist Vijender Singh (75kg) out-punched Kazakhstan’s Danabek Sukhanov 14-10 in the middleweight category late last night,before Bhagwan outclassed Andrique Allisop of Seychelles 18-8 in the lightweight (60kg) at the ExCel arena today.

Their passage to the next stage made up for Shiva Thapa’s first-round exit yesterday.

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Touted as a serious medal contender,26-year-old Vijender was a trifle cautious in the first round as he did not go for the attacking mode,preferring to gauge his opponent’s strategy but opened up subsequently to carve out a comfortable win.

“I am delighted to make it through to the next round,he was a tough opponent and now its on to the next challenge,” said Vijender.

“I want to go home with a different coloured medal this time,” he added.

The Haryana boxer was tactically superior to his opponent and also put his reach to good use to keep himself on course for a second Olympic medal.

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Although he was generally defensive in the first round,Vijender did unleash a few punches to take the honours with a 5-4 margin.

Vijender,who also won the gold medal in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou after a flop show at home in Delhi Commonwealth Games earlier in that year,had a decisive edge in the first round.

He put up an even more dominating show in the second round which he took with a 4-3 verdict and consolidated his position in the third and final round to eventually emerge victorious without really being under any serious pressure.

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