Rao, Sanjit in quarters

TAEJEON CITY (S KOREA), JAN 20: Flyweight Srinivasa Rao and lightwelter Sanjit Singh entered the last eight stage but lightweight Narender...

TAEJEON CITY (S KOREA), JAN 20: Flyweight Srinivasa Rao and lightwelter Sanjit Singh entered the last eight stage but lightweight Narender Rana was ousted in the fifth Seoul Cup international and second Olympic qualifying boxing tournament for Asia on Thursday.

Two out of three Indians posted victories to join four others in the quarter-final. Rao defeated Iranian Morteza 10:4 on points after forcing the bout to be stopped owing to his opponents bloodied nose.

Rana, the Services pugilist who was edged out by individual referee’s points in the first qualifying meet in Tashkent last October, was edged out 6-10 on points by Mohammed Asher of Iran.

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Sanjit Kumar beat Indonesian Binalay to secure a 9-4 verdict. All Indian boxers will be seen in action on Friday in the last eight stage.

Rao, the Railways boxer from Andhra Pradesh, made light of his rival’s height advantage as he breached Morteza’s defences with short punches to go ahead 3-0.

The lanky Iranian came back strongly in the second round andunleashed a barrage of straight and cross punches on Rao but the early lead paid off for the Indian who led 6-3 after the second round.

Lightwelter Sanjit Singh also put up an impressive show to prevail 9-4 over Binalay. The Indonesian opened a 2-0 lead in the first round, but the Indian southpaw gained a 5-2 lead in the third round before stretching it in the last two rounds.

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Rana went down 6-10 to Asher, whose lightning speed and quick counter punches saw him win by a clear margin.

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