CWG: Boxer Vijender Singh enters semis, assured of a medal

Star boxer Vijender Singh outclassed Trinidad and Tobago's Aaron Prince in men's 75kg category to reach the semifinals and assure himself of a medal in the 20th Commonwealth Games here today

CWG: Boxer Vijender Singh enters semis, assured of a medal

Vijender Singh

Glasgow: Star boxer Vijender Singh outclassed Trinidad and Tobago's Aaron Prince in men's 75kg category to reach the semifinals and assure himself of a medal in the 20th Commonwealth Games here today.

Vijender Singh

Vijender, the 2008 Olympic bronze medallist, won 3-0 on points in an unanimous decision of the three judges. The first round was a bit subdued with both the boxers trying to get a measure of each other.

Vijender played a bit defensively and Finch attacked more. One judge out of three gave 10-9 points to Finch while the other two gave in favour of Vijender with identical scores. In the second round though, Vijender's flurry of punches landed on his opponent who was in difficulty to fend them off. A straight jab and then a right hook punch from Vijender rattled Finch.

The tempo continued in the third round and Vijender won comfortably at the end. Vijender later said that he had to change his tactic midway into the bout and had to be more aggressive.

"I changed my tactics midway in the bout. In the first round I was trying to play a bit defensively. But he kept on coming and so I had to change my tactics and become aggressive," he said. "It is all about doing right things during the bout. I took some punches from my opponent but it was all about boxing. You get hit. I am getting better and hope I win gold."

On his comfortable win, Vijender said, "It was an open fight but my opponent was also very tough. I never underestimated him but I never thought I was ever in any real danger either."

Asked about the semifinal, he said, "Once you get to a semi-final in any competition, you really have to be at your very best and you prepare for that the way you would prepare for the gold medal fight. I'm going to be up against Connor Coyle (Nigeria) and that will be a very big challenge for me, but I am feeling really great." When asked about his Bollywood acting career, Vijender said, "I am just as passionate about acting as I am about boxing."

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