JOIN USWhile Jai (60kg) beat his rival 11-6 on Friday, Nanao (48kg) demolished Mamishzade 21-6 late last night to make it to the second round of the mega-event. It was sweet revenge for Jai, who lost to Donovan by a point at European Grand Prix event in Czech Republic in May.
Jai was trailing 1-4 at the end of the first round but he made a late recovery to come through.
“I was counterpunching to start with but once I knew that I was trailing, I went for an all-out attack,” Jai said. Jai’s recovery started in the second round when he narrowed the gap to 3-5 before out-punching his rival in the third round.
On Thursday night, 18-year-old Nanao, competing in only his second senior international event, decimated Mamishzade. The diminutive Manipuri negated his strongly-built opponent’s longer reach with aggressive uppercuts and straight left jabs.
Nanao led 7-2 at the end of the first round and extended it to 16-5 in the next three minutes. The Indian continued his domination in the final round and notched up five quick points to wrap up the bout in his favour.