Glasgow: Star Indian boxer Vijender Singh (75kg) continued his sublime form to enter the quarterfinals along with gritty youngster L Devendro Singh (49kg) in the 20th Commonwealth Games here today.
Vijender, a former Olympic and World Championships bronze-medallist, outpunched Namibia's Mujandjae Kasuto 3-0 in a lopsided contest to make the last-eight stage. The 28-year-old, who settled for a bronze in the previous edition of the Games, will now face Trinidad and Tobago's
Aaron Prince.
Such was the former world number one's domination that he managed a perfect 10 score from every judge in each of the three rounds. Earlier, Devendro (49kg) advanced to the quarterfinals with a hard-fought win but reigning Asian champion Shiva Thapa (56kg) made a shocking early exit.
Asian Championships silver-medallist Devendro made the quarterfinals after notching up a tough 2-1 victory over Sri Lanka's Madushan Gamage. The Indian started off confidently, getting a perfect 10 score from all three judges in the opening three minutes.
However, in the next round, Devendro, who looks to drain his opponents with a flurry of punches, was left surprised when Gamage came back strongly to clinch it 29-28. However, the Indian youngster muzzled the challenge in the deciding three minutes, snatching it 30-28 to be just one more win away from assuring himself of a medal in his debut Commonwealth Games.
The 22-year-old Manipuri will face Scotland's Aqeel Ahmed in the last-eight stage on July 30. On a disappointing note, Shiva Thapa (56kg) went down to Olympic bronze-medallist Michael Conlan of Northern Ireland. The Assam boxer found the going tough against the crowd favourite despite the fact that Conlan had endured a cut on his head during his opening bout.
Conlan dominated the opening round clinching it 30-28. The second and third rounds were a tad closer but the Irishman held his own to outwit Shiva. To add to his woes, Shiva also ended up getting warned for clinching and bending too much.
