Incheon: Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Amandeep Singh (49kg) was the lone Indian boxer to reach the finals of the Asian Championships with a tough win over Asylbek Nazaraliev of Kyrgyzstan in the semifinals on Thursday.
The Punjab pugilist, who won a gold at the Commonwealth Championships last year, won 13-12 in a nail-biting bout to
set up a summit clash with Shin Jong Hun -- a World
Championship bronze-medallist.
"I have had tough bouts all through and this one was no
different. He was a counter-boxer and I took a defensive
approach to fight it out with him. It was a hard slog but I am
very happy," Amandeep said.
However, there was disappointment for India elsewhere as
Balwinder Beniwal (64kg) and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist
Paramjeet Samota lost in the semifinals to settle for bronze
medals.
While Commonwealth Youth Games gold-medallist Balwinder
lost to Munkherdene Vranchimeg of Mangolia, Samota went down
to Xuanxuan Wang of China after being warned twice in the
bout.
In the previous edition, India had won a gold -- through
Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Suranjoy Singh -- with a
couple of silver and four bronze medals.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, August 11, 2011, 15:20