Kaushik in quarters

The World Championships bronze medallist Manish Kaushik made an impressive comeback in the ring as he outpunched Spanish opponent Raddouane Ammari 5-0 on the opening day of the Boxam International Tournament to enter the quarter-finals in the

63kg light-welterweight here on Wednesday.

Mohammed Husamuddin (57kg) also made his way into the quarter-finals with a comfortable 4-1 scoreline against Juan Manuel Torres.

The 25-year-old Haryana boxer couldn’t compete in the ring since Asian Olympic Qualifiers held in March last year due to injuries and is making a return after more than a year’s break. He will take on two-time ASBC Asian Boxing Championships silver medallist Kazakhstan boxer Sufiullin Zakir in the last-8 round on Thursday, while the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Hassamuddin will face Italy’s Simone Spada. Zakir beat Abdelhaq Nadir of Morocco 3-1 in the preliminary round match. The championship will see six Indian women boxers Mary Kom (51kg), Jasmine and Manisha Moun (57kg), Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg) competing in the quarter-finals. A 14-member Indian contingent including nine Olympic qualified and other top boxers.