Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Amandeep Singh (49kg) was the lone Indian boxer to reach the finals of the Asian Championships with a tough win over Asylbek Nazaraliev of Kyrgyzstan in the semifinals here on Thursday.
The Punjab pugilist, who won a gold at the Commonwealth Championships last year, won 13-12 in a nail-biting bout to set up a summit clash with Shin Jong Hun — a World Championship bronze-medallist.
“I have had tough bouts all through and this one was no different. He was a counter-boxer and I took a defensive approach to fight it out with him. It was a hard slog but I am very happy,” Amandeep told PTI .
However, there was disappointment for India elsewhere as Balwinder Beniwal (64kg) and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Paramjeet Samota lost in the semifinals to settle for bronze medals.
While Commonwealth Youth Games gold-medallist Balwinder lost to Munkherdene Vranchimeg of Mangolia, Samota went down to Xuanxuan Wang of China after being warned twice in the bout.
In the previous edition, India had won a gold — through Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Suranjoy Singh — and a couple of silver and four bronze medals.
