Santosh Kumar enters final of 21st President`s Cup

New Delhi: Asian Games silver medallist V Santosh Kumar (64kg) punched his way into the final while Lakhbir Singh (69kg) made his way to the last four at the 21st President`s Cup International boxing tournament in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Lakhbir continued to pulverise his opponents as he entered the semifinals of his weight category with another comprehensive victory in the second phase of bouts. Playing his first international competition since the silver medal winning performance at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, Santosh Kumar was up against Masatsugu Kawachi of Japan in the semi-finals of the Men`s light-welter weight division. The 19-year-old had notched up a splendid victory over local lad Ardan Bachtila in the quarters. He started well in the opening round of the semifinal, taking a slender one point lead after the opening three minutes of play (2:1). He soon made it a two point game after the second (5:3). In the third, though Kawachi matched Santosh`s punch for punch, the reigning national champion held on to advance to last stage with a 12:9 victory on points.In the summit clash, Santosh will lock horns with Malinin Alexander of Russia. However, in the light-fly weight category, 18-year-old Gaurav Bidhuri had to settle for a bronze medal after losing to Ian Clark Bautista of Philipines, the youngest member of the Philippine team. PTI