OLYMPIC:Vijender joins Akhil, Jitender in quarterfinal

Beijing (PTI): Indian boxers continued to lord the ring to stake their claim for Olympic medals with Vijender becoming the third from the country to reach the quarterfinal in the Beijing Games here on Saturday night.


The Haryana boxer thoroughly dominated his bout to tame Angkhan Chomphuphuang of Thailand 13-3 to sail into the quarterfinals of the 75kg category event.

A win against Carlos Gongora of Ecuador in the quarterfinal would assure him of an Olympic medal, of whatever hue.

Vijender thus became the third Indian pugilist -- after Akhil Kumar (54kg) and Jitender (51kg) -- to reach the quarterfinals.

The Indian began on a cautious note and took a 2-0 lead at the end of the first round before going on offensive. Though his Thai opponent managed to land a punch on him in the second round, Vijender did enough to stretch his lead to 6-1.

The third round was a lop-sided affair with the Indian dictating terms and Angkhan scurrying for covers.

Though the Thai made a last ditch attempt in the last round to make a comeback, Vijender ensured his superiority remains intact and in the end, it turned out to be a facile win for the Indian.

Vijender made the most of his height advantage and long reach to unnerve the Thai who looked confounded. Vijender unleashed mostly upper cuts and jabs and the Thai had no clue as to what was going.

"It was a great bout and Vijender displayed his full bag of tricks. It went just as we had planned," an elated coach GS Sandhu told PTI.

"Vijender was in full control and not for once did he look vulnerable. Whatever we planned bore fruit and I'm proud of the way he fought today," he added.

Asked about Vijender's next bout, Sandhu said, "He has not played against him (Carlos Gongora) but we have certain plans and you will see it in the quarterfinal bout itself."