CWG: 5 Indians reach finals; Bronze each for Naman, Manoj & Hussamuddin (Boxing Roundup)

Indian boxers Vikas Krishan, Satish Kumar, Amit Panghal, Gaurav Solanki and Manish Kaushik entered the finals of their respective categories, while Naman Tanwar, Manoj Kumar and Mohammed Hussamuddin got bronze medals after losing in the semi-finals at the 21st Commonwealth Games (CWG) here on Friday.

The finals will take place on Saturday, with legandary M.C. Mary Kom also joining Vikas (75kg), Satish (91kg), Amit (49kg), Gaurav (52kg) and Manish (60kg) in the hunt for the gold medals.

Amit outclassed Juma Miiro of Uganda by a unanimous 5:0 verdict to set-up a title bout against Galal Yafai of England

Gaurav overcame a tough fight from Vidanalange Ishan Bandara of Sri Lanka in the last four stage of the men's flyweight (52kg) division. Gaurav will meet Northrern Ireland's Brendan Irvine.

Manish got the better of James McGivern of Northern Ireland in a tough, tactical battle in the men's lightweight (60kg) semi-finals. On Saturday, home challenger Harry Garside will fight Manish.

Vikas defeated Northern Ireland's Steven Donnelly 5:0 by an unanimous verdict. The Indian got 29-27, 29-27, 30-26, 29-28, 29-27 from each of the five judges at the end of three rounds. At the end of the first round, only one judge had favoured Vikas.

In the final, the Indian will meet Dieudonne Wilfried Seyi Ntsengue of Cameroon.

Satish progressed to the 91 kg final after the referee decided to abandon the match as Seychelles' Keddy Agnes received a cut on the face in the second round. Satish will face Englishman Frazer Clarke in the final.

However, the Indian camp faced some disappointments too. The big loss took place when Manoj fell against Englishman Pat McCormack 0:5 by unanimous verdict. Each of the five judges gave McCormack 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-26 for totals after three rounds respectively.

In the men's heavyweight (91kg) division, Naman lost 0-4 in tough, well-contested bout against Jason Whateley of Australia.

Hussamuddin (56kg) lost to Englishman Peter McGrail 0:5 by unanimous decision.

--IANS

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