Payback time as boxer Thapa storms into final

For Shiva Thapa,the 54kg bout against Ramirez Robeisy Eloy at the Youth Olympics will be a rematch of the World Youth Boxing Championship...

For Shiva Thapa,the 54kg bout against Ramirez Robeisy Eloy at the Youth Olympics will be a rematch of the World Youth Boxing Championship final at Baku in May where the Cuban had come up trumps. The Indian wouldnt like to settle for anything less than a gold this time around,after he pummeled Zack Davis of England on Sunday enter the final at the Youth Olympics.

The Indian,who got a bye to enter semis,dominated the bout from the start,opening up a 5-1 lead in the first round and extending it to 10-3 in the second.

Thapa attributed the result to his rigorous training in Pune and Mumbai during the last two months.

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The training at Pune and Mumbai helped me a lot and it meant that I was always match fit. We train in a group in the junior camp. It was tough match today,tougher than the result suggests. Davis started aggressively,but managed to gain from it, said Thapa.

Krishan to fight for bronze

While Thapa will look to fetch Indias first gold at the Youth Olympics,it was all over for compatriot Vikas Krishan as the Haryana boxer lost to Evaldas Petrauskas of Lithuania 3-4 in the semi-final of the 60 Kg category. Incidentally,Krishan had defeated Petrauskas in the final in Baku by an identical margin. He will get a chance to clinch a bronze as he will fight the other losing semifinalist Daniel Echeverria of Mexico.

Coach G Manoharan praised both boxers. Shiva played aggressively and it went into his favour. It was tough luck for Vikas but I am happy with his performance, he said.

In athletics,Indians also disappointed. Kuldeep Kumar finished ninth in boys 10,000m walk final while Indrajeet Patel was 11th in boys 3000m race final. In mens 10m Air Rifle shooting final,Navdeep Singh Rathore finished eighth with a score of 685.5 (587+98.5). He had a series of 96,98,100,97,98,98 in the qualifying round at Singapore Sports School. (Inputs from PTI)