World boxing championships | Sumit, Neeraj, and Jaismine make the pre-quarterfinals

Sumit Kundu, Neeraj Phogat and Jaismine Lamboria posted wins in the round of 32 to reach the pre-quarterfinals on the second day of the World boxing championships in Liverpool on Thursday.

Sumit outsmarted Jordanian Mohammad Alhussein 5-0 in a men’s 75kg bout. Neeraj edged past Krista Kovalainen 3-2 in a hard-fought women’s 65kg contest, while Jaismine defeated Ukraine’s Daria-Olha Hutarina 5-0 in a 57kg duel.

Sumit, competing in a top flight event after two years, applied constant pressure on Alhussein by closing the gap on the taller counterpuncher and raining spectacular power-packed punches to win the bout convincingly.

Sumit will take on Paris Olympian Rami Kiwan of Bulgaria next.

Neeraj delivered some fine head shots from a long range to take the first round 3-2 before Krista used her combinations to dominate the second round.

Amid trading of solid blows, Neeraj stayed ahead in the third round and fixed a last-16 meeting with England’s Sacha Hickey.

Olympian Jaismine and Daria-Olha began too cautiously, but the former had an upperhand in the first round. The tall southpaw extended her lead in the second round and boxed with more confidence in the final to land a few punches from close range and win the fight. Jaismine will meet Brazilian Jucielen Romeu.

In the men’s 90kg category, Harsh Choudhary exited early after losing to Poland’s Adam Tutak in a round of 32 fight. The Indian lost when the referee stopped the contest in the third round.