Manoj Kumar drew from his huge reservoir of experience, while Kavinder Bisht relied on sheer tenacity for hard-fought opening victories on another good day for India at the 19th World boxing championship here.
Manoj defeated Moldovan Vasilii Belous 3-2 in an exhausting welterweight (69kg) contest. Kavinder, on the other hand, edged past Japan’s Ryusei Baba in a similarly draining flyweight (52kg) bout, which ended 3-2 in his favour.
However, there was disappointment too as Asiad bronze medallist Satish Kumar (+91kg) bowed out after losing his opening contest to Azerbaijan’s two-time world champion Mahammadrasul Majidov 5-0.
The results: 69kg: Manoj Kumar bt Vasilii Belous (Mda) 3-2. 52kg: Kavinder Bisht bt Ryusei Baba (Jpn) 3-2. +91kg: Mahammadrasul Majidov (Aze) bt Satish Kumar 5-0.
