London: World Championship bronze medallist Vikas Krishan stormed into the men`s 69kg category final while five-time world champion woman boxer M C Mary Kom made a shock quarterfinal exit in the Olympic boxing test event on Sunday.
Vikas carried his good form from the World Championships as he came up with a 9-6 victory over Azerbaijan`s Ismet Eynullayev in the semifinal bout of the London Boxing International Invitational event here.
With this win, the 19-year-old Indian welterweight boxer is assured of at least a silver medal.
The 2010 Asian Games gold medallist Indian, who bagged a bronze medal at the World Championships along with an Olympic quota, will lock horns with Qiong Maimaitituersun in the summit clash at the London Excel Centre. Qiong was a bronze medal winner at the 2010 Asian Games.
Another Indian, Asian Games silver medallist Dinesh Kumar (81kg) had to settle for a bronze medal after losing his semifinal bout on count back against Yamaguchi Florentino of Brazil, a silver medal winner at the 2011 Pan American Games.
Earlier in the day, the Indian camp experienced a major setback with Mary Kom losing to Argentine Pamela Paoloa Benavidez in women`s 51kg quarterfinals. Mary Kom was clearly not in her best form, but managed to be at par with Pamela after the first two rounds (6:6).
In the third round, Pamela squeezed a one point lead and increased the margin in the fourth. In the end, Mary Kom lost on points 9:13.
Pooja Rani, in women`s 75kg division, and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Amandeep Singh, in men`s 49kg, suffered a similar fate in their respective quarterfinal bouts. While Pooja lost to Dariga Shakimova of Kazakhstan (10:14), Amandeep suffered defeat at the hands of Birzhan Zhakypov, also of Kazakhstan (7:15).
PTI
First Published: Sunday, November 27, 2011, 18:34