Bhagyarajan carved out an outstanding win over Germany's Rinat Karimov in the welterweight division, spearheading India's charge in the 4th Military World Games boxing ring.

Fighting a much taller opponent, Bhagyarajan made light of that disadvantage to post a 23-14 win and enter the semifinals. The win assures the Indian of at least a bronze medal but the way he fought on the day, he could be in line for higher honours. Defending superbly, Bhagyarajan found ways to inflict telling punches on the German, whose desperate swings failed to fetch him many points in the final round.

Four other Indian boxers also moved into the semifinals on Thursday. Hari Kishan Beliwal defeated Jong Chol Bak of North Korea 11-5 in the flyweight quarterfinals while in bantamweight, P Narjit Singh ousted H Ulybek of Uzbekistan 12-8. Satya Raju in light-welter and Mohinder Thapa in light-heavy were the other Indian winners, making sure that the hosts will have a rich haul from the Gachibowli boxing arena.

Satya Raju got past Miguel Cobo of Ecuador 16-10 and Thapa downed a battling Majej Makovie of Croatia 25-19.
Three other Indians, however, made their exit at the quarterfinal stage. AL Lakra was shown the door by Shili of Tunisia 15-10 in the featherweight division while in the heavyweight category, S Manpreet lost to M Magodmedov of Russia 13-19. Mehar Singh in super heavy also tumbled out, crashing 3-18 to E Teper of Germany.

Volleyball

South Korea dealt a blow to India's medal aspirations in volleyball, posting a 25-15, 25-23, 25-19 win in the first match of the super league.

The Koreans, clearly the better team, had answers to every question India posed. Playing a fast-paced game, the Koreans breached the Indian blocks repeatedly and despite an improved showing in the second set, India just could not get a toehold in the match.

China also made a fine start, beating Qatar 25-23, 25-14, 25-20. India play China on Friday in a crucial match. The Chinese had beaten India in the league phase but India's captain Shijas Mohammed said he was confident of reversing that result on the morrow. "Even in the league match, we matched the Chinese but made a few mistakes at crucial moments," he said.  

Handball

India suffered their third defeat, bowing to Lithuania 9-12. They will play Qatar on Friday. In another match, Greece got past Turkey 32-26.

Football

Egypt will take on Cameroon in the final of the football event. Egypt drubbed Qatar 5-0, while Cameroon knocked out North Korea 2-0 in the semifinals on Thursday.