Manoj Kumar books final place in 64 kg in YMCA boxing

New Delhi, Jan 31 (UNI) Gold medal favourite Manoj Kumar won a closely fought bout to storm into the final of 64 kg category in senior section even as Indian pugilists witnessed reverses for the first time in the five-day 10th YMCA International Boxing Championships here today.

Manoj Kumar, who missed a medal by a whisker in the Doha Asiad after losing in the quarter-finals, just managed to hold on against Baliyev Bally of Turkmenistan to emerge 16:14 victorious in the sem-final.

He will now face compatriot Mahinder who outpunched Colin Richard of Mauritius 22-18, in the title round.

In seniors 69 kg semi-final, Manish faced no difficulty against Bashar Rahim of Iraq as the referee stopped the bout in the Indian's favour who dominated the bout althrough.

Manish will meet Kenchowa of Bhutan in the final with the latter thrashing his Indian opponent Somit.

Indians, however, suffered reverses for the first time in the junior section with four semi-final results going against them though they won six bouts.

Amit (64 kg), Suresh (64 kg), Sitender (75 kg), Naresh (91 kg), Sunny (91kg) and Baljeet (91+ kg) emerged victorious while Pradeep (69 kg), Manjeet (75 kg), Rahul (81 kg) and Sandeep (91+ kg) lost their bouts to their foreign opponents.

Meanwhile, four Indians -- Santosh Kumar (57 kg), Balwinder (60 kg), Anil Kumar (66 kg) and Sunil Ola (70 kg) -- moved into the final in sub-junior section, while Siddarth Tokas fell by the wayside losing his semi-final bout in 66 kg.

UNI