Guiyang: 21-year-old Manjeet Singh (+91kg) continued his winning streak at the 3rd China Open Boxing Tournament in Guiyang China on Thursday (20 Jun 2012). The 2012 Senior Nationals bronze medallist powered through to the final round of the tournament with another scintillating performance in the semi-finals.
Manjeet defeated Yermek Ussenove of Kazakhstan in the quarters to make his place in the penultimate round. In the semis the two time youth nationals bronze medallist was up against local lad Wang Zhi Bao. The burly youngster – participating in his very first international tournament – began slowly but soon gathered momentum penetrating Wang’s guard with some power packed punches. The Chinese boxer put up a good show in the second round, but soon the Indian forged ahead with flurry of jabs and hooks. He went on to bag his spot in the finals with a win on split decision. Singh will stake a claim for the yellow metal in finals against Akepeer Yusuf from China (B team).
But there was disappointment for the other three Indian boxers in the semi-finals. Silver medal winner in the inaugural edition of this tournament Sunil Kumar (52kg) gave his opponent Chang Young of China a run for his money. In fact on more than one occasion the nimble footed Sunil, with his swift combinations, seemed to be taking the game away from Chang, but ultimately the 23 year old lost out to the Chinese boxer in what was an enthralling contest. He will return from the tournament with a bronze medal finish.
Meanwhile, 19-year-old Ajay Kumar (56kg) will have to be content with a bronze medal after losing out to You Lunhai also of China. But the rookie boxer, making his international debut, displayed immense skill and technique. Although he ended up on the losing side in the round of four, but made Lunhai work very hard for a place in the finals. Middle weight boxer Jaideep also went down to another Chinese boxer, Chao Gejiletu, in his semi-final bout and had to make do with a bronze medal performance.