Filipino, Thai boxers reach Asiad semis
Southeast Asian powerhouse teams the Philippines and Thailand assured themselves of bronze medals in the 2010 Asian Games boxing competition on Monday 22 November.
Filipinos Annie Albania and Victorio Saludar completed their assignments to reach the medal round of their respective divisions.
Albania, a three-time Southeast Asian Games champion and Asian Indoor Games gold medallist, overcame an early deficit to beat North Korean Kim Hye-song 7-2 in the women's 51kg division. The Filipina was
down 0-2 after the first round but regained her composure in the next two rounds to secure the win.
Albania, who beat Kazakhstan's Zhaina Shekerbekova 9-2 in the last 16, will shoot for a final berth against Japan's Aya Shinmoto. The Japanese reached the semi-finals by beating Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Tuyet
Mai 9-3.
The other semi-final will pit world champions Chungneijang Hmangte of India and Ren Cancan of China. Hmangte, popularly known as Mary Kom, clobbered Ping Meng Chieh of Chinese Taipei 16-2 while Ren blanked
Nepal's Sanju Lama 10-0.
Saludar made it a double celebration for the Philippines when he defeated Amandeep Singh of India 6-1 in the 48kg category. The 19-year-old duplicated the feat of his older brother Rey, who earlier made
it to the 52kg semi-finals.
Awaiting Saludar in the last four is Kazakhstan's Birzhan Zhakypov, who dominated South Korea’s Shin Jong-hun 17-3.
The third Filipino boxer to see action in the night was not as fortunate. Welterweight Wilfredo Lopez bowed to Mongolian Otgonjargal Jargal 1-7 to kiss his medal hopes goodbye.
Jargal secured a semi-final date with Kazakh Serik Sapiyev, who won via walkover over Chinese Taipei's Chang Wei Jen.
Like the Filipinos, the Thais also progressed to the semi-finals. Tassamalee Thongjan stopped Indian Beniwal Preeti in the third round of their bout in the women's 60kg class. She will next face Kazakh
Saida Khassenova, a 9-2 winner over Taiwanese Hsueh Chun Chiu.
China's Dong Cheng crushed Kyrgyzstan's Filisteeva Kseniia 18-0 while North Korea's Yun Kum-ju dumped Vietnam's Ngo Thi Chung 10-1 in the other quarter-final bouts in the division.
In the men's 49kg class, Amnat Ruenroeng clobbered North Korea's Sung Song-guk 2-3. He will next take on Olympic champion and local hero Zou Shiming, who easily disposed of Phoilevy Hatsanai of Laos 13-1.
Wuttichai Masuk joined his team-mates in the next phase when he defeated Indonesian Vinky Montolalu 4-2 in the 64kg category. His semi-final opponent is Indian Santhosh Kumar Virothu, who won via countback
over Mongolian Byamba Tuvshinbat.
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