Manpreet, Devendro score

Manpreet Singh (91 kg) and L Devendro Singh (49 kg) stormed into the semifinals but it was curtains for young Shiva Thapa (56 kg) and Manoj Kumar (64 kg) in the International ‘Republic of Kazakhstan President’s Cup’ in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Manpreet defeated Telesenko Alaxander of Ukraine 17-7 in a one-sided contest while Devendro had little problem decimating Russia's Egorov Vasily 22-9. The two are now assured of atleast a bronze.

Thapa, up against World championship gold medallist Alvarez Estrada in the quarterfinals, came up with a spirited performance but was unlucky to lose on the countback 48-49.

Manoj, too, put up a brave performance, before going down 14-18 to Ulihanov Azhat.
Manpreet secured his place among last four with another power-packed performance. The 23- year-old heavyweight overwhelmed the Ukrainian boxer with his jabs and body blows. In the semifinals, he will take on Abduganiev Arbek also of Kazakhstan.

The 20-year-old Devendro, too, dominated his bout with attacking game and nimble footwork. He led 7-2 in the first round and 16-6 in the second. In the last round, the Manipuri boxer added six more points to his tally to win the match. He takes on Olympian and Asian Games silver medallist Birzhan Zakipov of Kazakhstan.

In the quarterfinals of the bantam weight division, Thapa gave a fine account of himself against the reigning world champion. The scores were tied 3-3 after the first round but the Cuban upped the ante.

Shiva put up a solid defence but Estrada sneaked away with a a crucial one point lead by the end of the second. Thapa, however, roared back to level things in the final round. After nine minutes of high octane action, the scores were even at 16-16, but Thapa lost on countback.

Manoj, who was leading with two points after the first round, squandered the advantage in the second.

The Indian made a comeback in the third with some hard-hitting blows, but fell short.