Manoj, Kavinder continue India's good run at Boxing Worlds
27 Aug 2017 6:15 PM GMT
Hamburg: Manoj Kumar drew from his huge reservoir of experience, while Kavinder Bisht relied on sheer tenacity for hard-fought opening victories on another good day for India at the 19th World Boxing Championship.
Manoj defeated Moldovan Vasilii Belous 3-2 in an exhausting welterweight (69kg) contest. Kavinder, on the other hand, edged past Japan's Ryusei Baba in a similarly draining flyweight (52kg) bout, which ended 3-2 in his favour.
However, there was slight disappointment too as Asian Games bronze-medallist Satish Kumar (+91kg) bowed out of the competition after losing his opening contest to Azerbaijan's two-time world champion Mahammadrasul Majidov 5-0.
The Indian was slightly under the weather going into the contest, having suffered a bout of viral fever before going there. Kavinder was the first to take the ring for the country, which had all its bout in the evening session for the second day in a row.
The Asian Championships quarter-finalist started rather cautiously and spent the opening three minutes getting a measure of his opponent. However, Kavinder's approach allowed Baba to land some clear blows, giving him the early advantage.
Kavinder, however, made a quick recovery and became the aggressor in the second round. His right hooks connected quite well and disturbed Baba's rhythm.
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