Indian boxers off to fine start in Cuba tourney

NEW DELHI: Indian boxers made a resounding start at the Giraldo Cordova Cardin Memorial Boxing Tournament with all four in action on the opening day advancing to the next round with contrasting wins in Havana, Cuba. Santosh Harijan (52kg), Kuldeep Singh (75kg), Manpreet Singh (91kg) and Paramjeet Samota (+91kg) clinched wins at the Ramon Fonst multi-sports hall to enter the second round.

Santosh staged a stunning comeback to upset local lad Orlandy, who was playing for the Cuban ''A'' team. After trailing in first two rounds 2-3 and 6-7, Santosh came back strongly in the third round.

The 23-year-old Santosh, a bronze medallist at the recently-concluded 16th International Boxing Tournament in Kazakhstan, managed to win 15-10 with the help of some accurate straight punches, uppercuts, body blows and sharp left hooks. He will now take on Artur Cremildo from Mozambique in the next round.

Later, in the middle weight category, reigning national champion Kuldeep ousted Aidarov of Kazakhstan 14-7. He will now lock horns with Dominican Castillo Junior.

Paramjeet, a gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games and a bronze medallist at the Asian Games last year, beat Manuel Martinez of Cuba 25-6. Manpreet, a silver medallist at the 2010 Asian Games, also secured his place in the next round with a 14-8 win over Sammy Blyth of Australia.

The 41st edition of the tournament, being played in the Cuban capital, has nearly 100 boxers from 14 countries vying for the top honours.

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