Asian Games Boxing: Vijender, Suranjoy in semis
Nov 20: World number one Vijender Singh (75kg) and Asian champion Suranjoy Singh (52kg) assured India of two more boxing medals by advancing to the semifinals with contrasting victories at the Asian Games, here today.
While Vijender out-slugged Korea's Deokjin Cho 13-2, Suranjoy pulled off a hard-fought 4-2 triumph over Uzbekistan's Shahriyor Isakov.
Vijender and Suranjoy's triumphs took the total number of Indian boxers in semifinals to four -- the other two being Dinesh Kumar (81kg) and Paramjeet Samota (+91kg).
Vijender, an Olympic and World Championship bronze-medallist, who won a bronze in the previous Asian Games in Doha, will now face Mohammad Sattapour of Iran in the semifinals.
Suranjoy, who has won an astonishing seven gold medals at the international level since April 2009, will now be up against China's Chang Yong in the last-four stage.
Earlier in the day, Amandeep Singh blanked Pakistan's Muhammad Waseem to make it to the light flyweight 49kg quarterfinals. The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist will face Filipino Iii Victorio Saludar in the last-eight stage.
Vijender, who had disappointingly settled for a bronze in the Delhi Commonwealth Games last month, took advantage of his long reach and imposing built against a rival who struggled to match his speed and power.
His deft footwork helped Vijender dodge several of Cho's attacking attempts and the Korean found it hard to respond to the counter-attacks that the Indian launched.
Leading 3-0 after the opening three minutes, Vijender also benefitted from the desperation shown by Cho.
The Korean ended up hitting the 25-year-old Haryana-lad below the waistline during one of his attempted attacks, inviting a warning, which added two points to the Indian's tally.
Vijender too received a warning for clinching Cho in the eventful second round during which the Korean was also thrown off balance by one of the world number one's power-packed hooks.
The third round was a similar story of domination by Vijender, who daringly kept his guard low after building up a sizeable lead in the bout.
Suranjoy, on the other hand, was given a stiff fight by Isakov who matched the Indian in aggression but was found wanting when it came to reflexes and anticipation.
The 24-year-old Manipuri kept a shell guard and scored mainly through jabs.
Isakov tried hard to break Suranjoy's defence with body blows and uppercuts but the Indian, nicknamed 'Chhota Tyson', endured the attacks well in the low-scoring bout to come out triumphant.
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