Hitesh stuns Okazawa, leads four other Indians into the last four

Hitesh Gulia managed a 3-2 upset win over Olympian and World championships silver medallist Sewon Okazawa of Japan in a 70kg quarterfinal bout as India continued its domination on the second day of the World Boxing Cup Finals at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Indoor Stadium here on Monday.

Jadumani Singh (50kg), Pawan Bartwal (55kg), Sumit Kundu (75kg) and Naveen Kumar (90kg) also won their respective last-eight bouts to reach the semifinals and ensure medals.

With both boxers adopting a cautious approach, Hitesh was lucky to convince three judges in the first two rounds despite his limited shots.

A stylish southpaw who displayed his gamesmanship and connected some good punches to take the third round 3-2, Okazawa lost in the overall scoring.

A Mike Tyson fan, Bartwal staved off a strong challenge from Kazakh boxer Altynbek Nursultan, the Brazil leg World Cup champion, to record a 5-0 victory and secure his maiden international medal.

Bartwal, who had impressed on his World championships debut in Liverpool, overcame his initial tentativeness to rely on his accurate punching as he took the first two rounds with an identical 4-1 verdict before securing the third convincingly.

Important results: Quarterfinals: Men: 50kg: Izaz Omer (Aus) bt Slominski Bogdan (Pol) 4-1, Jadumani Singh bt Nurzat Ongarov (Kaz) 5-0; 55kg: Ellis Trobridge (Eng) bt Yelmir Nabiiev (Ukr) 3-2, Pawan Bartwal bt Altynbek Nursultan (Kaz) 5-0; 60kg: Seiitbek Munarbek Ullu (Kgz) bt Brach Pawel (Pol) 5-0; 70kg: Hitesh Gulia bt Sewon Okazawa (Jpn) 3-2, Yurii Zakharieiev (Ukr) bt Kan Chia Wei (Tpe) 3-2, Nurbek Mursal (Kaz) bt Ikhriiar Nishonov (Kgz) 3-2; 75kg: Javokhir Abdurakhimov (Uzb) bt Aman Konsbekov (Kaz) 4-1, Sumit Kundu bt Kim Hyeonate (Kor) 5-0; 90kg: Tutak Adam Jakub (Pol) bt Abduljabbar Ammar (Ger) 4-0, Nusratbek Tokhirov (Uzb) bt Bogdan Tolmachov (Ukr) 4-1, Naveen Kumar bt Bekzat Tangatar (Kaz) 5-0.