Veteran Manoj Kumar (69kg) assured himself the second Commonwealth Games medal of his career as four Indian boxers entered the semifinals of the mega-event with contrasting victories in the quarterfinals here today.
The debutant trio of Amit Panghal (49kg), Mohammed Hussamuddin (56kg) and the 19-year-old Naman Tanwar (91kg) joined Manoj in the semifinals of the mega-event, where Indian boxers had won three silver and a bronze medal the last time around.
Amit defeated Scotland's Aqeel Ahmed in a split 4-1 verdict. The 19-year-old Naman, on the other hand, hammered Samoa's Frank Masoe 5-0 in his quarterfinal clash to move into the medal round.
"I didn't expect Ahmed to be this good. He surprised me with his speed and my counter-attack wasn't working at all. The coaches then told me to go all out aggressive which is what got me the results that I wanted," Amit told PTI after his bout.
Chasing a third successive international gold, the 22-year-old from Haryana overcame a rusty start to turn the tables on his opponent.
"This is definitely going to be the biggest medal of my career so far. There is no doubt about that," said the World Championships quarterfinalists