Amit, Gaurav enter quarters of World Boxing Championships

HAMBURG:��Amit Phangal (49kg) and Gaurav Bidhuri (56kg) upstaged fancied rivals to enter the quarterfinals but former bronze-medallist and third seed Vikas Krishan (75kg) was ousted after a second-round loss in the 19th World Boxing Championships here.

���� While Amit stunned seventh seed Carlos Quipo of Ecuador, Gaurav got the better of Ukrainian Mykola Butsenko in a pre- quarterfinal bout.

���� However, Vikas, a bronze-winner from the 2011 edition, bowed out after being bested by England's Benjamin Whittaker. Also making an early exit was Asian silver-medallist Sumit Sangwan (91kg) who lost to Australia's Jason Whateley in a split decision.

���� Amit has a tough contest coming up as he would be taking on second-seeded Uzbek Hasanboy Dusmatov, while Gaurav will face Tunisia's Bilel Mhamdi in his next contest.

���� Amit, a bronze-medallist from this year's Asian Championships, opened the proceedings for India and prevailed in a unanimous verdict at the Sporthalle here.

���� It was an assured performance by the 21-year-old, who is enjoying a breakthrough year at the senior level.

���� He never looked in any awe of his seeded rival and frustrated him with his counter-attacks. Quipo hardly looked the part of a seeded boxer and was cautioned several times for failing to keep his head up.

���� Hitting straight and clean, Amit was markedly the better boxer and the judges ruled in his favour unanimously.

���� Next up was Gaurav and he also came up with a determined performance against a rival representing one of boxing's powerhouses.

���� The Delhi-boxer, who got into the event on a wildcard after missing out on automatic qualification, held his nerve and matched Butsenko punch for punch in a thoroughly engrossing contest. The two boxers attacked each other relentlessly and expectedly the judges came out with a split verdict in favour of the Indian.

���� "Both Amit and Gaurav gave big-hearted performances. The key was not to let opponents settle and they made sure that this plan was executed to perfection," India coach Santiago Nieva told PTI.

���� However, Vikas and Sumit's loss came as a dampener for the Indian camp.

���� The two-time Asian Games medallist looked sluggish against his 19-year-old rival, who has been nicknamed 'The Future' in his country for the potential he has shown.

���� Whittaker's stronger legs helped him glide smoothly inside the ring, even as Vikas struggled to keep his balance after every attempted attack at the Englishman.

���� The Haryana-boxer did manage to hold his own in the first two rounds but Whittaker out-punched him comprehensively in the final three minutes to clinch a unanimous verdict in his favour.

���� Sumit competed in the last bout of the evening and lost after a strong start. He dominated the opening round but Whateley fought back in the next two to clinch the issue. (AGENCIES)