Asian Boxing Championships Devendro in SFs, qualifies for World C'ships
Source: The Sangai Express

Bangkok, September 01 2015: Commonwealth Games silver-medallist L Devendro Singh (49kg) assured himself of a medal and a place in the upcoming World Championships by storming into the Asian Championships semifinal here on Tuesday.

Devendro, a silver-medallist from the previous edition of the event, out-punched Cornelis Kwangu Langu of Indonesia 3-0 in his quarterfinal bout.

He will square off against top-seeded Uzbek Hasanboy Dusmatov in the semifinals.

Today's win assured Devendro of a place in the October World Championships � the first qualifying event for next year's Rio Olympics.

File photo of Laishram Devendro

"He boxed extremely well today.

It was a very dominant performance and even though he faces a very tough opponent in the next round, he might just surprise everybody given the form that he is in," national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu told PTI.

The pint-sized dynamo was his usual aggressive self, using his right uppercuts and hooks with precision in all three rounds.

What stood out today was the Manipuri's control.

Known to be a tempo boxer, Devendro's aggression wasn't completely no holds barred.

The nimble-footed pugilist used the uppercuts to break Langu's shell guard and did the scoring with hooks and jabs to advance in the Championship.

In the evening session, defending champion Shiva Thapa and second seed Vikas Krishan also booked medals and World Championship berths by advancing to the semi finals on a mixed day for India.

Shiva (56kg), on the other hand, defeated Kyrgyzstan's Omurbek Malabekov 2-1 in a bout which had to be stopped in the second round due to an injury to Malabekov.

Vikas (75kg), a former World Championship bronze-medallist, eased past Vietnam's Dinh Hoang Truong 3-0 in the evening session.

However, it was curtains for former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar (64kg) who lost 0-3 to Uzbek Fazliddin Gaibnazarov.

Also bowing out was former Asian Games silver-winner Manpreet Singh (91kg) .

Today's wins assured all the three of a place in the October World Championships in Doha -- the first qualifying event for next year's Olympics.

Even Manoj and Manpreet have a chance of making the cut if their respective rivals manage to reach the final.

"All the three boys who won today were excellent in their performance.

All of them have difficult opponents waiting for them in the next round but I am sure they have gained enough confidence to cause upsets," national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu told PTI.

"Even the boys who lost fought with a lot of heart and I am satisfied with the fact that they gave their best," he added.

Starting the day for India was Devendro and the pint-sized dynamo from Manipur was his usual aggressive self, using his right uppercuts and hooks with precision in all the three rounds.