The seasoned duo of Gaurav Solanki (57kg) and Ashish Kumar (75kg) advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Asian Olympic Qualifiers for boxing with dominating wins in their respective opening-round bouts here on Tuesday. Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Solanki defeated two-time Kyrgyz national champion Akylbek Esenbek Uulu, while Asian Championship silver-medallist Ashish got the better of Taiwan's Kan Chia-Wei. Both the Indians won 5-0 following strong performances.

Ashish will square off against Kyrgyzstan's Omurbek Bekzhigit Uulu, who has been seeded fourth. The Indian had beaten Uulu in the quarter-finals of the Asian Championships last year. "I have played Chia-Wei before but I lost to him previously. Today I made no mistake. It was a clean performance from my side," said Ashish after his victory. "It has boosted my confidence especially after the good training we've had. I next face the fourth seed whom I have beaten before and am confident of putting up a good show."