JOIN USBeijing Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh (75 kg) and Asian Games silver medallist Manpreet Singh (91kg) entered the quarterfinals of the AIBA Asian Olympic Qualifying event in Astana, Kazakhstan on Friday.
Vijender defeated Syria's Ishak Waez 11-5 in the opening round. He next takes on Mongolia's Chuluuntumur Tumurkhuyag. A semifinal berth here will fetch Vijender a place in the London Olympics.
In another pre-quarterfinal, Manpreet beat Tulyek Yerbolat of Mongolia. The heavyweight boxer floored Yerbolat with a crashing right cross followed by a solid uppercut prompting the referee to stop the bout in the very first round.
It took the 23-year-old Manpreet just one minute and 46 seconds to get past the Mongolian national champion.
He will now meet Borbashev Chingis of Kyrgyzstan on Sunday. The Kyrgyz boxer created an upset by defeating Rustam Tulaganov of Uzbekistan in the other pre-quarterfinal bout.
On Saturday, Commonwealth Games Gold medallist Suranjoy Singh will meet old nemesis Nyambayar Tugstsogt of Mongolia in the 52 kilograms weight division. Youth Olympic Games 2010 silver-medallist Shiva Thapa (56kgs) will take on Mohd Nooristani of Afghanistan in the pre-quarterfinals.
This is the last chance for Indian boxers to clinch Olympic berths.
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