New Delhi: Manoj Kumar (64 kg) and Devendro Singh (49 kg) lost their quarterfinal bouts to bow out of the World Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday.
Manoj and Devendro had qualified for the 2012 London Olympics by winning their respective round-of-16 battles Tuesday.
The morning session of the event Wednesday, however, turned out to be a damper for the Indian camp.
Manoj Kumar went down 18:24 against European Champion Thomas Stalker of England.
The Indian started cautiously as did his opponent. Both boxers matched each other punch for punch but Stalker managed to gain a 5:4 lead. In the second round, the Englishman upped the ante giving the Indian boxer a hard time with his heavy blows.
Manoj, who was trailing by five points at the beginning of the final round, came back strongly with some swift combinations but it was not enough on the day.
Devendro`s dream run came to an end with a 16:28 loss at the hands of World No.2 Shin Jong of South Korea.
The Manipuri boxer was given the tag of a `Giant Killer` after he beat Carlos Quipo of Ecuador to make it to the last eight. But the 19-year-old faced his toughest challenge against Jong.
The Korean, who was taller than Devendro took complete advantage of his height. The Indian boxer found it quite difficult to get inside the long arms of Shin and get his usual game going. The Korean on the other was gaining advantage owing to his long reach.
Devendro was down two points at the end of the first round. Shin made best use of his experience and stretched the advantage in the second as well. Devendro kept trying hard to break the defence of his opponent, but failed to make an impact.
Jai Bhagwan will lock horns with Gani Zhailauov of Kazakhstan while Vikas Krishan will fight Vasili Belous of Maldova in their quarterfinal bouts later Wednesday.
IANS
First Published: Wednesday, October 05, 2011, 19:29