Manoj, Dinesh in finals of FXTM boxing in Cyprus

New Delhi: Olympians Manoj Kumar and Dinesh Kumar today led Indian boxers` dominating show by advancing to the finals of the Invitation FXTM International Limassol Boxing Cup in Limassol, Cyprus.

Last year`s senior national gold medallists, Mandeep Jangra and Sukhdeep Singh, too, made it to the finals of their respective weight division. 2008 Youth Olympics bronze medal winner V Durga Rao (56kg), reigning national champion Madal Lal (52kg) and silver medallist Parveen Kumar (+91kg) also booked their places in the title round. 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Manoj (64kg) had an easy outing against Diaa Twafeek Mohamed of Egypt. The Egyptian boxer had no answer to the aggressive play of the 26-year-old Indian. Leading from start to finish, Kumar went on to take his place in the final of the light welter weight with a margin of 16-4 win. He will meet Abdelkader Chadi of Algeria in the gold medal match. In the heavy weight division, Dinesh (91kg) beat Chouaib Bouloudinat from Algeria. The 24-year-old put up a solid defence and countered with his left straight punches and right hooks. He kept winning crucial points, not allowing his opponent much space. The Algerian boxer tried hard to take the lead in the final round, but a power full left upper cut and right long hook helped Dinesh maintain the advantage. Dinesh won on points 18-17. He will face Fotios Aratoglou from Hungary in the final. In the welter weight division Mandeep (69kg), up against Pablos Poulikos of Greece, made a stunning recovery after being down 3 points at the end of the second round. The 20-year-old came back strongly in the third round with his sharp powerful punches and well executed counter attacks to take the game away from the Greek boxer. Jangra won on point 14-13, and will lock horns with Spanish boxer Victor Veda Blanco for the yellow metal. Sukhdeep also gave good performance in his maiden appearance in the International circuit. He defeated Najd Salloum from Lebanon 21-8. In the final he squares off against local lad Kyriakos Spanos. Making their maiden international senior appearance, Anil Kumar (60kg) and Jagroop Singh (81kg), also gave a very good account of their skills, but ended up on the losing side of their semi-final bouts. PTI