Asian Games Boxing: Manoj wins, CWG gold-medallist Solanki ousted

Veteran Manoj Kumar (69kg) eased into the pre-quarters but Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Gaurav Solanki (52kg) went out with a stunning opening-round loss, giving a mixed start to India's boxing campaign at the Asian Games here today.

Manoj prevailed 5-0 over Bhutan's Sangay Wangdi to make the last-16 stage and set up a clash with Kyrgyzstan's Abdurakhman Abdurakhmanov, who got an opening-round bye.

The 31-year-old two-time Commonwealth Games medallist was hardly tested in today's fight. The former Asian Championships bronze-medallist was up against an opponent, whose lack of experience showed quite early in the bout.

Manoj had little trouble penetrating Wangdi's defenses and kept him on the backfoot almost the entire bout.

However, Solanki was beaten in a unanimous verdict by Japan's Ryomei Tanaka, the Indian 21-year-old's defense all over the place against the southpaw.

The Armyman looked particularly drained after the second round and just could not find a way to prevent his opponent's hooks from connecting.

Tanaka was not much of a power hitter, his punches in the third round being feeble, but he was helped by Solanki's poor defense and also his own ability to draw the Indian in.

The Japanese boxer had finished fifth at the Asian Championships last year, incidentally beating India's world championship bronze-winner Gaurav Bidhuri in the box-off for a world championships spot. In that tournament, he had competed in the bantamweight (56kg) category.

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