Suranjoy, Akhil win first bouts
After debutant L Devendro Singh (49kg) gave India a winning start on Monday, seasoned pugilists Suranjoy Singh (52) and Akhil Kumar (56) registered easy victories on the second day of the World Boxing Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday.
After debutant L Devendro Singh (49kg) gave India a winning start on Monday, seasoned pugilists Suranjoy Singh (52) and Akhil Kumar (56) registered easy victories on the second day of the World Boxing Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday.
Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Suranjoy drubbed Dobradi Zsolt of Hungary 24-8, while Beijing Olympics quarterfinalist Akhil got the better of Slovakia's Filip Barak 16-8.
Akhil was aggressive throughout the bout and never let his opponent dominate. He took a 6-3 lead in the first round and stretched it to 10-5 in the second. He continued with his attacking strategy and kept scoring with the right-left combination.
Akhil will now face fourth seed and last edition's bronze-medallist John Nevin (Ireland) on October 3.
Suranjoy, who hails from Manipur, finished the opening round with a 6-4 lead and then notched up 11 points in the second round. He eventually wrapped up the tie 24-8. Suranjoy will now face the silver-medallist of the 2009 world meet, Nyambayar Tugstsogt, of Mongolia. "Akhil and Suranjoy played sensibly," said national coach GS Sandhu from Baku.