Incheon: Commonwealth Games silver-medallist L Devendro Singh (49kg) entered the prequarters after getting a walkover but Manoj Kumar (64kg) bowed out with an opening round loss on a mixed day for Indian boxers at the Asian Games here on Thursday.
Devendro, a 2013 Asian Championships silver-medallist, was declared the winner after his opponent — Fahad Albathali of Kuwait — failed to turn up for his bout.
Later, Manoj, a 2010 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist besides being an Asian Championships bronze-medallist, lost 1-2 to Japan’s Kawachi Masatsugu.In a bout which hardly had any clean punches, the Indian and his rival were locked in a battle of attrition.
Kawachi was slightly tidier of the two in the first two rounds before Manoj made a good comeback in the final three minutes.
Even though Kawachi seemed exhausted after the opening round itself, Manoj failed to capitalise in the second round, struggling to connect clean hits on the Japanese, who very tactfully fought from a long range.
However, in the final round, Manoj raised his game and came up with some powerful hooks to unsettle an increasingly battle-weary Kawachi even though the effort came too late.
On Friday four Indian boxers will be in action in their respective last-16 round bouts. Shiva Thapa (56kg) will take on against Nadir of Pakistan, followed by Kuldeep Singh (81kg) fighting against Anavat Thongkrathok.
Akhil Kumar (60kg) will be up against Filipino Charly Suarez and Amritpreet Singh will square off against Korean Park Namhyeong under 97kg. (PTI)
