Gurcharan's through to the second round

Boxer Gurcharan Singh brought more cheer to the Indian camp with a well-merited 11-9 win over South Korea's Choi Ki-Soo in the first round of the light-heavyweight class at the Olympic Games on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old Gurcharan, a bronze medallist at the 1998 Banglok Asian Games, overcame the Korean's skills at gamesmanship to emerge a clear-cut winner in the bout to join middleweight compatriot Jitender Kumar in the second round of the boxing competition.

After making his customary slow start, the Indian boxer, hailing from Punjab, stepped up the tempo of his aggression to take a handy 9-5 lead midway through his bout against Choi who even resorted at times to falling on the canvas in order to recover poise and breath in the aftermath of the Indian's ferocious left-right onslaught.

Gurcharan, who had stopped the same rival at the Olympic qualifying tournament in the Korean's backyard at Seoul on way to winning the gold, then held off Choi's late fightback to emerge winner on points.

Mail your comments