English, NI boxers barge into finals
England and Northern Ireland dominated the semi-finals of the 2010 Commonwealth Games boxing competition at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Monday.
Both teams sent five boxers each to the finals. Tom Stalker, Bradley Saunders, Callum Smith, Anthony Ogogo and Simon Vallily won their respective bouts to assure England of at least five silver medals.
Leading Northern Ireland's quest for five gold medals are European champion Paddy Barnes, Paddy Gallagher, Thomas McCarthy, Eamonn O'Kane and Steven Ward.
England and Northern Ireland will square off in three of the 10 final bouts on Wednesday.
Smith will take on Gallagher in the welterweight final. The Englishman defeated Carl Hield of the Bahamas while the Northern Ireland fighter prevailed over Indian Dilbag Singh.
Ogogo and O'Kane will dispute the gold medal in the middleweight class after outpointing India's Vijender Singh and Welshman Keiran Harding, respectively.
Vallily and Ward will lock horns for the heavyweight title. Vallily won via walkover against Ghana's Awusone Yekeni while Ward beat Scotland's Stephen Simmons to reach the final.
Stalker defeated Indian Jai Bhagwan in the lightweight division. He will shoot for the gold medal against Scotland's Josh Taylor, who ousted Tonga's Lomalito Moala.
Saunders outpointed Louis Colin of Mauritius in the light welterweight category. Awaiting him in the final is Indian Manoj Kumar, who prevailed over Bahamian Valentino Knowles.
Barnes defeated local bet Amandeep Singh in the light flyweight division to arrange a final showdown with Namibia's Jafet Uotoni, who downed Pakistan's Muhammad Waseem.
McCarthy and Scotland's Callum Johnson will face each other in the light heavyweight final. McCarthy defeated Kenya's Joshua Makonjio while Johnson beat Wales' Jermaine Asare in the semi-finals.
Sharing the spotlight with England and Northern Ireland are hosts India, which sent three fighters to the finals.
Joining Kumar in the finals are flyweight Suranjoy Mayengbam and super heavyweight Paramjeet Samota.
Mayengbam ended the run of Pakistani fighter Haroon Khan to reach the final. He will gun for the gold medal against Kenya's Benson Njangiru, who booted out Botswana's Oteng Oteng.
Samota beat Tonga's Junior Fa to arrange a final date with Trinidad and Tobago's Tariq Abdul Haqq, who conquered Cameroon's Blaise Yepmous in the semi-finals.
The gold medal in the bantamweight division will be disputed by Sri Lanka's Manju Wanniarachchi and Welshman Sean McGoldrick.
Wanniarachchi, who secured the island-nation's first Commonwealth Games boxing medal in 60 years on Sunday, stopped Botswana's Tirafalo Seoko in their semi-final bout. The 18-year-old McGoldrick progressed
to the final by beating Louis Julie of Mauritius.
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