India in line for triple gold

As an officer in the Indian Navy,one of the daily duties of Suranjoy Singh is to make up a list of matters pertaining to order and discipline in the unit.

As an officer in the Indian Navy,one of the daily duties of Suranjoy Singh is to make up a list of matters pertaining to order and discipline in the unit. On Friday,the 21-year-old boxer from Uchiwa in Manipur displayed the same kind of discipline to carve out a 4-2 win over Thailands Olympian Ruenrotng Amnaj and reach the final of the flyweight category at the Asian Boxing Championships in Zhuhai.

The Manipuri boxer,who was the lone gold medallist at the European Grand Prix last month,will now face Chinas Li Chao in the final on Saturday. It was a narrow win for me. We were both looking to defend most of the time,which resulted in me being down 0-1 in the first round. But my opponent was somewhat tired in the second round,which gave me an advantage. The new rules mean that we have to adjust quickly and even though it was a narrow win,I am happy with my performance, Suranjoy said,speaking from Zhuhai.

European experience

The national champion in the 51kg category first made headlines when he claimed Indias only gold in the European Grand Prix this May by defeating Armenias H Danielyan in the final and the Manipuri boxer feels that the European experience gave him confidence to perform well on the international stage.

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That was a tough tournament as Europes best boxers were taking part in it. Our coaches have been working on our fitness and also,the gold medal meant that my performance was taken note of. We have not won a gold medal at the Asian Championships for the last 15 years and we all want to end the drought, Suranjoy said.

Emphatic win

Another Manipuri boxer,world cadet champion Nanao Singh (48kg),also stormed into the final with an emphatic 14-7 win over Mongolias Nyambar Tughsogt. Nanao,who has lost only one bout in his short international career,trailed 1-3 in the first round but came back strongly.

The Thai boxer was aggressive early on,but once I read his game it was easy. He was very quick on his feet so I had to make adjustments to my defence, Nanao said. Next,he will play Pongprayoon Keaw.

Jai Bhagwan also moved into the final of the 60kg category with a resounding 8-2 win over Kazakhstans Zhailuov Gani.

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However,it was heartbreak for Beijing Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh as he had to be content with a bronze medal,his second in a month,as he lost 11-8 to Zhang Jianting of China in the semi-final.

The Bhiwani boxer was unlucky to be given a warning in the second round and ran out of steam in the fourth round after having led in the second. Its disappointing to lose in the semi-finals but I learnt a lot from the experience, Vijender said.

Jitender (54kg),Paramjit Samota (+91kg) and Dinesh Kumar (81kg) also settled for bronze medals after semi-final losses.