Harpal Singh in boxing quarters

Heavyweight pugilist Harpal Singh became the third Indian to move into the quarter-finals in boxing at the Asian Games in Busan on Sunday.

Displaying excellent technique and agility, Harpal kept his medal hopes alive, beating Lebanon's Mansour Ali 20-16 in a keenly-contested +91kg category bout at the Masan Gymnasium.

The Indian made full use of his reach against the Lebanese, who never allowed himself to be bogged down despite the early barrage of punches unleashed by Harpal.

Harpal, who opened up a good lead in the early stages of the contest, later conceded a few points but still managed to win by a four-point margin.

The going, however, turned out to be much too tough for the other Indian in the fray today, as Som Bahadur Pun stumbled at the first hurdle itself.

Pun started on a promising note but could not maintain the rhythm and went down to China's Tongzhou Chen 14-29 without posing much of a challenge in the featherweight (57 kg) category.

Commonwealth Games gold winner Mohammad Ali Qamar and Jitender Kumar are the two other Indians who are already in the quarter-finals in the light flyweight and middleweight categories respectively.