Vikas makes semis but Manoj, Devendro, Jai Bhagwan exit

Guangzhou Asian Games gold medallist Vikas Krishan (69 kg) continued his winning run at the 2011 AIBA World Championships here with a stunning 9-8 win over Vasili Belous of Moldova yesterday.

Vikas makes semis but Manoj, Devendro, Jai Bhagwan exit

Guangzhou Asian Games gold medallist Vikas Krishan (69 kg) continued his winning run at the 2011 AIBA World Championships here with a stunning 9-8 win over Vasili Belous of Moldova yesterday.

However, the other three Indian boxers in the quarter-finals -- Manoj Kumar (64 kg), Devendro Singh (49 kg) and Jai Bhagwan (60 kg) -- lost their quarter-final bouts.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Manoj went down 18:24 to European Champion Thomas Stalker of England, while Devendro was beaten by 16:28 loss by World No 2 Shin Jong of South Korea and Jai lost 10-11 to Kazakhstan's Gani Zhailauov.

Nineteen-year-old Vikas came up with yet another awe-inspiring performance to equal the feat of Vijender Singh, who bagged a bronze at the 2009 Milan World Championship. The win assured him of a bronze medal at least.

Vikas, making his World Championships debut here , started off brilliantly yesterday. At the end of Round One, both fighters notched up three points each.

In the second round, Vikas was relentless and kept pressing for the breakthrough. His persistence was rewarded and he got a crucial one-point lead going into the third and final round.

The point proved decisive as the final round fetched equal points for both boxers. The 2010 Youth World Champion went on to book a semi-final berth in the Championships with a 9:8 win.

The semi-final round will see Vikas take on Taras Shelestyuk of Ukraine. Taras beatu00a0 World No 3 Andrey Zamkovoy of Russia yesterday.