Services’ pugilist in quarters

Deepak defeated Gopal Hoge of Maharashtra 5: 0 to stake claim for a place in the Indian national camp for the 2020 Olympics

Services pugilists Deepak and R. L. Prasad advanced to the quarterfinals of the 3rd National Men’s Boxing Championships with easy victories over their opponents in Pune on Sunday.

Deepak, who is the reigning Services champion in the light flyweight category ( 48 kg), defeated Gopal Hoge of Maharashtra 5: 0 to stake claim for a place in the Indian national camp for the 2020 Olympics.

Deepak, swift on his feet, was cautious to begin but with a solid defence was able to keep his Maharashtrian opponent at bay and score points with ease.

Prasad, who too scored 5: 0 triumph over Rahul Rajput of Gujarat in flyweight category ( 52 kg), made the pre- quarterfinal bout look rather comfortable as the 2012 World Youth Boxing champion pounded punches on Rajput who kept ducking to make the job of judges easy by the end of the third round.

Railways’ Sachin Siwach sent Punjab’s Manoj Kumar packing with a 5: 0 verdict in a fly weight bout which kept everybody on the edge of the seat. The 19- yearold from the Bhiwani Academy, who won the World Youth title in 49 kg two years ago at St Petersburg ( Russia), found the scoring difficult with Manoj refusing to drop his guards.

Yet, the Railways boxer found the opening in the first two rounds to maximize his advantage before rounding it off in the final round to enter the quarterfinals.

There were as many as seven RSC ( referee stopped contest) verdicts with a lone knockout decider coming in favour of Manjeet Kumar Shaw of West Bengal who sent Surajbhan Singh of Rajasthan to the ropes in the second round.