Four boxers in Mongolia semis

New Delhi: Shiva Thapa ( 60kg) and Mandeep Jangra ( 69kg) were among four Indian boxers to make the semi- finals as the country’s tally of expected medals swelled to eight at the Ulaanbaatar Cup in Mongolia on Friday. Shiva notched up a clinical win over Kyrgyzstan’s Ravshanbek. He squares off against local hope Battumur Misheelt in the last- four stage. Also advancing was Mandeep who beat Mongolian Batkhuyag Sukhkhuyag. Joining them were debutant Vanhlimpuia ( 75kg) and Etash Khan ( 56kg). However, L. Sarita Devi ( 60kg) lost a closely- contested quarterfinal to Chinese Taipei’s Shih Yu Wu. In the men’s draw, Salman Sheikh lost a close quarter- final to local favourite Gankhuyag Gan- Erdene. Vanhlimpuia defeated Korea’s Song Myong Su in a unanimous verdict while Etash had to slog it out against China’s Jia Wei Lu before fetching a split verdict in his favour from the judges.