Ramanand in last eight

In a late last night bout, Ramanand erased some of the pain of Suresh Singh’s defeat in the flyweight category by winning his lightweight preliminary bout. He beat Tomg Deren of China 5-3 in a keenly-contested encounter.

Qamar began well and was on level in the first round. However, he lost the momentum in the second, allowing his opponent to take control.

The 27-year-old Chinese made full use of the Indian’s inability to land accurate punches and used his mobility around the ring to telling effect.

Cheered on by a vociferous Chinese contingent, Yang chose to play it safe in the final round. Qamar came up with some good combinations but failed to reduce the margin.

The Indian team management revealed that the strategy for Qamar was to maintain a high tempo throughout the bout but the experience of the Chinese won the day. Interestingly, Yang had been beaten easily by another Indian boxer, Virender Thapa in the China Cup in 1995.

Displaying all the class and panache that won him the Best Boxer Award at the recent Shimla Nationals, ramanand kept his fleet footed opponent at bay.

The Chinese, in his first major international competition, surprised the Indian with his agility and speed in the early rounds.

Ramanand, however, used all his experience and new found confidence to quell the challenge. His left hook was extremely penertative and coach GS Sandhu complemented the services pugilist for keeping his composure despite having to box a southpaw, not a regular feature on the domestic scene.

Ramanand was pleased with his performance and will meet Bekzat Sattarkhanov of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals. Sattarkhanov defeated Jae-Hwan Lim of Korea 6-5 in a pulsating bout.

Ramanand was confident about doing well in his next bout, although Kazakh boxers have impressed many experts here, winning in almost all categories with ease.